LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap.. Copyright No.. 

Shelf.. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



BAILEY'S out; 

OF 

MACKINAC ISLAl 

SCALE 2 In. To 




MACKINAC 



FORMERLY 



MICHILIMACKINAC 



V' 

BY JOHN R. BAILEY, M. D. 

Attending Surgeon, Fort Mackinac, Mich.; (Late) Acting Assistant Surgeon, 

U. S. Army, and Post Surgeon at Fort Mackinac, Mich., Fort Snelling, 

Minn., and Fort Hamilton, New York Harbor, and U. S. Physician 

for the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians at Mtcliilimackinac. 

Brevet Lieut. Col. U. S. Volunteers and (Late) Asst. 

Surgeon and Surgeon Eighth Missouri 

Infantry Volunteers. 

Organizer and first Commander, 1861, New House of Refuge General Hospital, 
St. Louis, Mo.; Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief of Operating Corps, 2d Div. 15th 
A. C. ; Chief Medical Officer on Staff of General Morgan L. Smith, Gen- 
eral Lewis Wallace, General Giles A. Smith, General Lightburn 
General David Stuart, General William T. Sherman and Gen- 
eral F. P. Blair, Jr. ; Surgeon in charge of Regimental Hospit- 
als at St. Louis Arsenal, Mo., Paducah, Ky., Fort Heiman 
and Crump's Landing, Tennessee River, and Milli- 
ken's Bend, La ; Special Field and General Field 
Hospitals at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Russel's 
House, Corinth, Memphis, Tenn., Chicka- 
saw Bayou, Miss., Arkansas Post, Ark., 
and Jackson, Champion Hills, and 
Vicksburg, Mississippi, Etc., Etc. 

Special Medical Purveyor, Army of the Tennessee, in the Field, 
at Chattanooga, 1863-4. 



HISTORY AND GUIDE BOOK WITH MAP 
4TH EDITION, 1899 



ROBERT SiVlITH PRINTING COMPANY 
LANSING, MICHIGAN 





1? 201898 



•ccoMD o&py. 






t.^^'^'ioHn R. Bail 



Copyright, IB^S", "By ToBn R. Bailey. 

Copyrig-ht, 1896, by John R. Bailey. 

Copyright, 1897, by John R. Bailey. 

Entered according to act of Congress, in the j-ear 1899, 

BY JOHN R. BAILEY, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 

All rights reserved. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 







SEi* 1 u 1899 



^/ 






THIS VOLUME 

IS, 

WITH LOVE, AND A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT, 

DEDICATED 

TO MY SISTER, 

MARY NEOSHO WILLIAMS, 

WIDOW OF GENERAL THOMAS WILLIAMS, 

U. S. ARMY, 

WHO WAS KILLED AT THE HEAD OF HIS VICTORIOUS TROOPS, 

IN THE BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE, LA., 

AUGUST FIFTH, 

EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO. 

J. R. B. 







Ye say they all have passed away 

That noble race and brave 
That their light canoes have vanished 

From off the crested wave; 
That 'mid the forest where they roamed 

There rings no hunter's shout; 
But their name is on your waters — 

Ye may not wash it out. 

"Ye say their cone-like cabins, 

That clustered o're the vale, 
Have fled away like withered leaves 

Before the autumn gale; 
But their memory liveth on your hills, 

Their baptism on your shore; 
Your everlasting rivers speak 

Their dialect of yore." 



PREFACE. 
Mackinac, formerly Michilimackinac — looking back- 
wards to about the time of "The Flood" and forward to 
the present time, has been carefully written, and the 
following" works and of&cial reports referred to: Mitch- 
ell's Geography, 1843; Taylor's Manual of History; 
Michigan Manual; London and Paris State Papers; 
United States State Papers, and Official Reports; 
Sketches of the Life of Gurdon S. Hubbard; Letters and 
Documents of the American Fur Co. ; my own personal 
copies of Official Letters and Reports, Fort Mackin- 
ac, Mich.; Memoir of Pere James Marquette, by John R. 
Bailey, M. D.; Verwyst — Missionary Labors of Mar- 
quette, Menard and Allouez; Ancient and Mordern 
Michilimackinac; History of the Ottawa and Chippewa 
Indians of Michigan (Blackbird's); Van Fleet's Old and 
New Mackinac; Maps of Mackinac; Palmer's Historical 
Register, 1814; Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the 
Mississippi; also, Shea's Catholic Missions; Hennepin; 
La Hontan, two volumes; Charlevoix, two volumes; 
Alexander Henr}-; Carver; Disturnell; Newcomb's Cyclo- 
paedia of Missions; American Missions to the Heathen; 
Geological Reports by Foster and Whitney, and by 
Professor Winchell; Thatcher's Indian Biography, two 



10 Preface. 

volumes; Strickland's Old Mackinaw; Drake's Northern 
Lakes and Southern Invalids; also, Diseases of the 
Mississippi Valley, by the same author; Holme's Ameri- 
can Annals, two volumes; Robertson's History of Ameri- 
ca; Bancroft's United States; Bell's Canada, two volumes; 
Albach's Annals of the West; Lahnman's Michig-an; 
Sheldon's Early Michigan; Historical and Scientific 
Sketches of Michig-an; Neill's Minnesota; Smith's Wis- 
consin, three volumes; Wynne's General History of the 
British Empire; Rog-er's Concise Account of North 
America; Dillon's Early Settlement of the Northwestern 
Territory; Heriot's Canada; Parkman's Pontiac; Park- 
man's Discovery of the Great West; Schoolcraft's Works, 
complete; Documentary History of New York, complete; 
History and Discovery of the North West, Butterfield's; 
and other works in my library. 

I am under oblig-ation to 1st Lieut. Woodbridg-e 
Geary, commanding- Fort Mackinac, and David W. 
Murray, Foley Brothers and Georg-e C. Ketchum, of the 
Island, for books of reference. 

The historical facts and dates are drawn from books, 
and matter that has long- been accumulating-, and much, 
in the last century, from personal observation of over 
fifty years of life, with the Indians, on the frontiers of 
our nation. J. R B. 

Mackinac Island, Michigan, May 2^, i8g^. 

Revised, Mackinac Island, Michigan, April 2^, iSgg. 

J. R. B. 




MACKINAC, FORMERLY MICHILIMACKINAC. 



"Lo! the poor Indian, whose untutored mind, 
Sees God in storms and hears Him in the wind." 

GENESIS OF THE INDIAN. 

To ascertain the g-enesis of a race or people we must 
carry our researches far back of modern times into the 
reg"ions of antiquity. Man began with a mere existence, 
his personal wants and desires were all he had to care 
for. The Indian, like the Caucassian, is a creature of 
environment. He advanced as his limited resources 
permitted, or descended to the lowest grade of savagery 
when driven out by a stronger tribe and forced to 
extremity. 

When the Spaniards first visited this, then unknown 
land, they found the inhabitants of the "New World" 
in the various stages of societ}', from the lowest savage 



14 History of Mackinac. 

state to that of a half civilized people. From whence 
came these tribes and why their various conditions ? 
They must have migrated from adjacent lands and 
reached this continent from the near shores of North- 
eastern Asia at a period unknown. 

America is a continuation of the land surface of the 
earth from Asia. The shallow straits of "Behring-" are 
merely a depression in the uplift where the ancient drift 
and g-laciers have washed through and by erosion made 
the original valley wider and deeper. 

People of Alaska. — "The Esquimaux are evidently 
of Tartar origin, and no doubt migrated from Asia about 
the time of their wars in China during the ninth and 
tenth centuries." The lang-uage of that people, on the 
Eastern and "Western coasts of North America, by the 
sea, and of the Tchoutski bears a strong resemblance. 
Interpreters from Hudson's Bay, and Moravian mission- 
aries from Labrador can converse with them. They,' 
the Esquimaux, in speaking- of themselves, apply the 
word "Enyuin" people. The beginning of winter is the 
first of their year. It is divided into four seasons and 
twelve moons. 

Kinzeghan, near Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, has 
long been a trading place with Tchuktchi or Asiatic 
tribes, who cross the straits, from East Cape, in boats, 
in mid summer, by way of the Diomede islands. They 
meet the natives of the coast, east and west, and those 
of the Mackenzie and Yukon river basins, who come far 
from the south to trade. In July the Mackenzie is navi- 
gable, for large vessels, into Great Slave Lake, more 
than one thousand miles south of the "Frozen Ocean," 
and the Yukon (or Kivhpak), as far. Fish and game 
are abundant in all this territory, and barley, oats and 



Origin of the Aborigines. 15 

potatoes will grow to maturity at Fort Norman, latitude 
64° 31' north. (See "Hours at Home," "Russian Amer- 
ica," July, 1867, pp. 254 to 265.) 

In arctic climes, the days of summer are long-, the heat 
of the sun often intense, nig-hts are short, and the face 
of nature develops rapidly. The rivers and even the 
streamlets become irresistible, moving- floods. They teem 
with terrestrial life along- their borders, and aqueous 
life within, and wing-ed aerial upon their waters. There- 
fore, there is food enoug-h, and to spare, for the Tartar 
Indian nomads. 

There is now living on Mackinac Island a mixed blood 
Indian woman about 68 years old (who came here at the 
age of seventeen), of the Kilistinoux or Cree tribe. She 
was born in the Churchill river country, between Hud- 
son's Bay and Great and Little Slave lakes. She says 
her people went to the north in summer by way of Great 
Slave lake to barter with the tribes on the "Frozen 
Sea." They started early in March and did not return 
until the next year. They met the people from the 
"Sea" coming up the river, half way. Some of her peo- 
ple returned and others went north and did not come 
back. 'Other parties went north by way of Red river 
(of the north) to trade and sell furs. They, too, would 
go one year, start in March and not come back until the 
next season. Time then was no object. This woman. 
Madam Cadro (now Cadotte), is part French. Her people 
gave her in marriage to Cadro when she was only 
twelve years old. He was a "Courier du Bois" and an 
"Engagee" of the Hudson's Bay Company. Madam 
Cadro is an intelligent, industrious, hard working wom- 
an, and is generally respected. She relates this story 



16 History of Mackinac. 

as a part of her life without the slig-htest idea it has any 

bearing- of importance. 

"The Kilistinoux have their more ordinary place of 
abode in the vicinity of the Sea of the North." "The 
* Assimpoula lac,' a tribe allied with the Kilistinoux, 
where the country is still more toward the north," As- 
sineboines, from "assin," a stone, and "boines," or 
-'eboines" a corruption of "Bawn" Sioux. (See Hist, and 
Biog-. notes.) They are the Sioux of the north, and 
bands of the Sioux of the plains far to the south of them. 

The Jews in China. — Colonies of Jewish extraction 
have been known to exist in Pekin and the interior of 
China in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and 
before. Jewish traditions, Chinese inscriptions, and 
observations of travelers show that large and influen- 
tial communities of the Children Israel have resided in 
China for a period of not less than two thousand years* 

fChina is the oldest nation on the face of the earth 
and has been a g-overnment, it is claimed, for at least 
forty-five centuries. Japan was settled from that coun- 
try and was a part of that vast domain. The natives of 
Japan believe their country existed 660 years before the 
Christian Era. 

fThatthe aboriginals of America came originally from 
Asia and the outlaying islands of that continent, by the 
natural drift of current events, and the "Curo Shiwo" 
and the Pacific drift currents, can hardly be doubted. 
They might have been driven off the coasts of Japan in 
their frail craft by storms and wafted by the ocean cur- 
rents to the shores of Alaska, or as far to the south as 
California and Mexico, or have crossed Behring straits 

*Hours at Home, May, 1868, pp. 90 to 93. 

•j-China, pag-es 397 to 409 and to 414, and Japan, 627 to 634. 
LaJor's Cyclopedia of Political Science, etc. 



Origin of the Aborigines. 17 

by way of the many islands in that channel. Numerous 
instances of wrecks with survivers on board have been 
recorded before and since 1785. In 1837 three ship- 
wrecked Japanese were picked up in Washing-ton Terri- 
tory, Others have since been rescued along- the Pacific 
coasts and returned to Japan. 

What occurred 100 years ago could have happened 
1,000 years before, or at any time since the flood, when 
"All the fountains of the great deep were broken up," 
and afterwards the surface of the earth was re-peopled. 
There is no mystery about the origin of the native 
American. The Indian came from Asia, the cradle of 
the human race. He may have been Aryan or Mongolian 
or other extraction; that is of no consideration. Time, 
climate, food, habits, and environment, with all its 
influences have effaced his lineage and made him 
a distinctly marked type. So, Columbus, when he 
was first discovered by the shy inhabitants of our tropi- 
cal sea, was not so for out of the way when he named 
the natives "Indians." 

Having- essayed to trace the orig-in of the aborigines, 
we now come to the time, from A. D., 1001 to 1492, 
when they were sig-hted by eastern navigators in their 
native land. One of them, whose exploits are recorded 
and best known, the aforesaid Christopher Columbus, in 
1492, first landed from his Caravels on a tropical island, 
one of a g-roup at the entrance of what is now the Gulf 
of Mexico. That Genoese anchored off the coast and 
viewed the "Promised Land." Investing- himself and 
his followers in g-orgeous array they waded to the shore, 
bearing- aloft the colors of Spain and Aragon with the 
cross, the emblem of Christianity. He unfurls the flag- 
and plants the cross before the astonished and frig-hten- 

2 



18 History of Mackinac. 

ed natives on the soil of the New World, taking- by 
force of arms a country belonging to others, in the 
name of the sovereigns who promoted his enterprise. 
Here began a series of acts, wrongs, sequestration, pil- 
lage and extermination that has been continued under 
the guise of Christianity by the nations of Europe and 
our Republic to the present time. It is but the continu- 
ance of the survival of the fittest — the strong over- 
powering the weak. 

Columbus is followed by Cortez, for one, who falls 
upon the peaceful nations of Mexico and Peru, slaughters 
their people, dethrones their monarchs, and lays waste 
their cities and plantations. Those nations are said to 
have been far advanced in civilization, agriculture and 
social conditions. And about the same time came the 
French, English, Dutch, Portugese and others, until we 
come down to the founding of a "New France," on the 
banks and in the valley of the St. Lawrence which 
includes the basin of the Great Lakes. 

New France. — James Cartier, St. Malo, France, 
discovered the St. Lawrence in 1534, and anchored 
in Gaspe Bay. He had two vessels of 50 tons 
each, and 122 sailors. He sailed up the gulf in 
August until he could see land on both sides of the 
river. The following year he returned and ascended the 
St. Lawrence as far as the Indian village on the island 
of Hochelaga, He called the hill on the island "Mont- 
Real," and it is now the city of "Montreal." He re- 
mained all the winter of 1535 in a palisaded fort on the 
banks of the St. Charles, That winter was very cold 
and many of his men died. 

In the spring he took possession of the country again, 
as he had done the year before, in the name of the King 



Fishing Vessels in Newfowidland. 19 

of France. Then he returned to France in two of his 
ships, having- abandoned the third one, and on July 16, 
1536, ag-ain anchored at St. Malo. Cartiers' abandoned 
ship was found imbedded in mud three hundred and 
twelve years afterwards. No attempt to plant a perma- 
nent colony was made for a series of years after 1534 and 
1536; but it is inferred that some French of both of these 
expeditions remained and intermarried with the Alg-on- 
quins and Hurons, adapting" themselves to their con- 
dition and mode of life. 

Ag-ain, May 23, 1541, Cartier sailed from St. Malo with 
five vessels, under the auspices of John Frances de la 
Roque. La Roque was Lord of Roberval, whom the 
French King- had appointed viceroy, January 15, 1540, of 
the Country of the St. Lawrence. Cartier entered the 
St. Lawrence and established a fort near the present 
site of Quebec. Then he, in two boats, went up the 
river and explored the rapids above Hochelag-a island. 
After the exploration he returned and passed the winter 
in his fort. In the spring he returned to France, In 
June, 1542, when outward bound, he met the Viceroy at 
the harbor of St. John with three ships and two hundred 
men. Roberval ordered him to return, but he eluded 
him in the nig-ht and continued his voyag-e. The Vice- 
roy, although abandoned, wintered in the St. Lawrence. 
That spring, 1543, he also left the country and virtually 
gave up his possessions. No doubt more of the Vice- 
roy's men remained in the land and took dusky resi- 
dents for wives. 

Adventurers and fishermen continued to cross the 
Atlantic, until in 1578 there were no less than twenty 
whalers from the Bay of Biscay, and three hundred and 
fifty fishing vessels at Newfoundland. Those people 



20 History of Mackinac. 

were French, Spanish, Portugese and Eng-lish. They 
must, of course, have visited the main land to barter 
and get supplies from the natives. 

King Henry IV. of France, encouraged the Marquis de 
la Roche, in 1598, to recolonize New France. But that 
expedition was ill fated, and forty convicts were left on 
Sable island near the coast of Nova Scotia. Five years 
afterwards twelve of the convicts were found alive. 

The following year a merchant, Pontgrave, and a 
marine captain, Chauvin, were granted a monopoly of 
the fur trade by the King of France. They started out 
to get five thousand persons to found the new colony. 
Arriving at the mouth of the Saguenay, there, at Tadou- 
sac, they built a cluster of log huts and storehouses, 
and left sixteen men to gather furs. They left and did 
not return until 1601, when they found the men had 
scattered among the Indians or were dead. Chauvin 
made a second and a third voyage, but the colonizing 
scheme was another failure. On the third voyage he 
died, and with him the colony ended. 

In 1603, Samuel Champlain formed a company of mer- 
chants and adventurers to found, in earnest, a colony in 
Canada. He sailed over in two small vessels, and made 
a survey of the St. Lawrence as far as the island of Hoche- 
laga. He tried to ascend the rapids, in a skiff with Indian 
guides, but did not succeed. The Indians made a rude 
plan of the river and the lakes above, that gave a crude 
idea of their vast extent. On getting the information 
he desired he returned to his ships and sailed for France, 
but resolved to come again better equipped. Champlain 
sailed, the second time, April 13, 1608, fitted out for 
trade, exploration and colonization. The Saguenay was 
reached in June, and soon after a settlement was made, 



Champlain in Canada. 21 

at Quebec, on the bank where the lower town is 
situated. 

The winter of 1608-9 was severe, and not being- inured 
to cold his men suifered greatly. On the opening- of 
spring- fresh supplies from France arrived. June, 1609, 
Champlain, with only two white men and sixty Hurons 
and Algonquins, ascended the Richelieu into the lake 
that now bears his name. They were met on the lake 
and opposed by a band of Iroquois, who were soon routed 
by a few shots from an arquebuse. The Iroquois and all 
the five nations of what is now New York, were at war 
with the Hurons of the lakes and the Alg-onquins whose 
range was the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. After- 
wards the French called all Alg-onquins, wherever found, 
Ottawas. 

Champlain returned to France, but we find him back 
to his province in 1610, 1611 and 1613 having- crossed 
and returned between those periods. Having- learned 
from the Indians the g-reat extent of country, the distant 
Hudson's Bay, the larg-e fresh water seas, and the copper 
found on the shores of Lake Superior, of the fish of all 
the waters in unlimited quantity, and the fur-bearing- 
animals, he wished to visit them. The great object, 
then, was to secure the fur trade and explore the route 
to China and India. With that intent in 1613 he sailed 
up the St. Lawrence "bound for the Ottawa to discover 
the North Sea." He reached Isle des Allumettes 
and returned baffled and disg-usted to France. 

1615. The Indians along- the St. Lawrence and the 
shores of the great lakes, came yearly, in summer, to 
trade with the French settlers. That year when the 
Hurons and Alg-onquins were assembled at Montreal, 
they asked Champlain to lead them ag-ainst their old 



22 History of Mackinac. 

enemies the Iroquois of New York and he accepted their 
proposal. Champlain then went to Quebec for supplies. 
Returning- he learned the savag-es g-ot impatient and left 
July 1 for their villages. Father Joseph le Caron, a 
Recollet and twelve Frenchmen, who were armed went 
with them July 10th. Champlain followed with ten 
Indians and two Frenchmen. Both parties went by way 
of the Ottawa to the Alg-onquin villages. They passed 
the two lakes of the Allumettes and took a long used 
portage* to Lake Nipissing, and from that lake in canoes 
floated and paddled down the French river into Georg- 
ian ba}'. Then they took a southward course along" the 
shores of the bay to the Huron villages more than one 
hundred miles distant at the head of the bay, the allied 
forces then moved across the country by way of the river 
Trent to Lake Ontario. They boldly crossed the lake 
and landing, pushed into the interior and besieged the 
Iroquois who were intrenched in a fort on Onondagua 
lake. They were not successful and returned to their 
homes with Champlain. In the spring Champlain 
returned to Quebec, by way of the Ottawa, arriving- 
July 11, 1616. Le Caron returned a few days before 
Champlain, having learned something of the language 
and the Indian mode of life. It is claimed that the 
Chippewas and Ottawas (Algonquins) of the straits of 
Michilimackinac and Lake Michigan islands and a few 
Sacs and Sioux, were in that expedition. At that early 
period Champlain and his followers had learned from 
observation and previous reports the vast extent of ter- 
ritory and inland fresh water seas, he held for the 
French crown. 



*Between L. Nippissing- and the Mattawan, or "beaver resi- 
dence." 



Chaniplain Again in Command. 23 

Fkanciscan Monks. — From 1608 to 1633 the priests 
and monks of the gray robes (Recollets) were the domi- 
nant relig-ious order in New France. Up to 1622 they 
had established five missions from Acadia to the borders 
of Lake Huron. Champlain himself was a Zealot firmly 
imbued with the Roman faith. "Canada was a true 
child of the Church." The statesman, soldier and the 
priest, with his cross, went hand in hand tog-ether and 
planted a shrine in every villag-e. Their object was to 
secure the rich fur trade and proselyte the natives to the 
' Church of Rome. 

1622. In 1622 the Hug-enots received a concessio i in 
New France, but their stay was short. Then for the 
first time there came three Jesuits, one of them John de 
Brebeuf, whose career and final death is historic. 

1627. Louis the thirteenth (Richelieu, being- Cardi- 
nal and really King-) chartered the "Hundred Associates 
Company," granting- them forever Quebec and the fort, 
all New France and Florida. Champlain was one of 
that company. The King- g-ave the company two ships 
and invested them with almost soverign power. The 
Roman Catholic Church was to be the established one, 
and no other. That, with the Indian wars and the 
Hug-enots, led to new troubles in the province, and 
"A strange harmonious inclination 
Of all degrees to reformation." 

1629. The Eng-lish captured Quebec and all New 
France in 1629, and returned the whole country, by 
treaty, in 1632. 

1633. We find Champlain again in command of the fort 
and town of Quebec and New France, that he had pre- 
viously been obliged to surrender to the English. This 



24 History of Maddnac. 

time uuder the "Hundred Associates Company," and 
the Jesuits, priests of the black robes, in the ascendant. 

As soon as the French were known to be in command 
ag-ain one hundred and fifty Huron canoes arrived atFort 
St. Croix, Three Rivers, to trade with their old friends. 
With them came John Nicolet, the interpreter, who was 
directed by Champlain to proceed with the returning- 
convoys to "La Nation des Puants" (at Green Bay, 
Wis.,) to make a treaty with them and learn of "The 
Men of the Sea" about their country, and "the g-reat 
water." 

1634. In compliance with instructions Jean Nicolet, 
who had returned with the Hurons, journej'ed by the 
Ottawa route, Lake Nipissing- and Geofg-ian Bay, to- 
wards the land of the Winnebag^oes. He was conveyed 
by seven friendly Indians in birch-bark canoes. Passing" 
the mouth of the French river westward, he met the 
"Nation of Beavers" "Am a kou ai" (amik or Amikou) 
a beaver. They were descended from the "Great 
Beaver," next to the "Great Hare," their principal di- 
vinity. Their orig-inal homes were the Beaver Islands 
("Isles du Castor") in Lake Michig-an and afterwards 
the Manitoulin Islands in Lake Huron. The French 
named them "Nez Perces" from their habit of wearing" 
ornaments and feathers thrust tbroug-h their noses. 

The following- translated from the French: *"On the 
18th of June, 1635, the chief of the Nez Perces or Beaver 
Nation, which is three days journey from us (the Jesuit 
missionaries located at the head of Georgian Ba}' of 
Lake Huron) came to demand of us some one of the 
Frenchmen to g-o with them to pass the summer in a fort 



^"History of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet 
in 1634," pages 45-6. By C. W. Butterfield. 



Voyag'c of Nicolet to Green Bay. 25 

which the}' had made bj reason of the fear which they 
have of the *"A8 eats i 8 aentlhonon," that is to say the 
nation of the Puarts — (Winnebag"oes), who have broken 
the treaty of peace and have killed two of their men, of 
whom they have made a feast." 

The Beaver tribe were then on the main land where 
Sieur Nicolet found them. Still farther on the shore of 
the great lake were the "Oumisag-ai" Indians. All 
were of Alg^onquin stock, and could be easily understood. 
The canoes pressed onward and entered the St. Mary's 
river at De Tour (the turn) and paddled up the stream to 
the falls Sault de Sainte Marie. "And there stood 
Nicolet, the first white man to set foot upon any portion 
of what was, more than a century and a half after, called 
'the territory northwest of the river Ohio, ' " at present the 
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigfan, Wisconsin 
and Minnesota east of the Mississippi river. The In- 
dians found at the Sault (leap or fall) pronounced "Soo," 
were also Alg-onquins, Ojibiwas or Chippewas called by 
the French Saulteurs (and Sauteurs) and by the Sioux 
as Raratwans, "people of the falls" and other names 
meaning" the same. 

After a short stay at Sault Ste Marie he returned 
down the river in his canoes propelled by the paddles of 
seven Hurons. On reaching- the mouth of the river they 
made the turn (De Tour) and coursing- along" the shores 
of the northern peninsula they passed Les Cheneaux, 
(the channels), St. Martin's Islands, St. Ignace, and 
the island of Michilimackinac, Gros Cap and Seul Choix 
in succession, until they turned from Lake Michigan in- 
to Bay de Noquet ("No-ka," bear), where the shores 

* "8" occurs in The Relation of 1636, and is equivalent in 
English to "w, we, or oo," 



26 History of Mackinac. 

are sand. There is a big" and little bay of the same 
name. Here we visited a tribe called Roqui and No- 
quets, or bear family, Alg-onquins classed with Chippe- 
was. Farther up Green Bay he came to the Menomonees 
on a river of the same name. They were Algonquins of a 
lig"hter color, and their lang-uag-e was not easy to under- 
stand. They lived on wild rice and by fishing- and 
hunting. After a short stay he resumed his voyag^e to 
the Winnebagfoes, to whom he had sent one of the 
Hurons in advance. The Indian was well received, 
for-told of his coming and his message of peace. The 
Winnebagoes sent several of their young men to meet 
him, the "wonderful man," who escort him and carry 
his baggage to their camp. Arriving, he advanced 
clothed in a robe of "Chinese damask sprinkled with 
flowers and birds of different colors," and a pistol in 
each hand, both of which he discharged in the air, to 
the right and left. The women and children fled in dis- 
may, for he was a "Manitou" who carried thunder in 
his hands. The Winnebagoes were found to be numer- 
ous. Their language was different from any Algon- 
quins or Hurons; they were of Dakota stock. At that 
time the Sacs and Foxes had not arrived; they came at 
a later period. 

Plearing of his coming, four or five thousand natives 
of the different tribes soon assembled to meet him in coun- 
cil. Nicolet made an alliance with them and urged them 
to keep the peace with each other and the tribes eastward 
of Lake Huron and with the Hurons and Nez Perces. 

After the treaty he visited the Mascoutins, six (6) 
days' journey up the Fox river. These Indians were al- 
so called "Les Renards," "Musquakies," etc. Cham- 
plain heard of them in 1615, "as being engaged in a 



Death of John Nicolet. 27 

war with the Neuter Nation and the Ottawas." From 
the tribe (Mascoutins) and others Nicolet got confused 
stories of the Mississippi, Alg-onquin, "Missi," great, 
and "sepe," water. They were so mixed with the Ouis- 
consin (Wisconsin) that he could not get a definite idea 
of what he and others supposed was the "sea," distant 
only three days' journey. From here he went south- 
ward and visited the Illinois tribe on the prairies and 
returned to the Winnebagoes. 

On his return trip homeward he tarried with the Pot- 
tawatamies, who lived on the island at the mouth of 
Green Bay. 

1635. This was in the spring of 1635, after the ice 
had broken up. The course was by way of the Straits 
of Michilimackinac and the island of the same name to 
south shore of Great Manitoulin island, where a band of 
the Ottawas lived. The same seven Hurons were with him 
as his convoy. From that island they crossed Georgian 
Bay to the Huron villages. That season he accompanied 
the Indians on their annual trading trip to his post on 
the St. Lawrence river. They probably reached Three 
Rivers between July 15 and 23, 1635. See Vimont (Re- 
lation 1640 and 1643). Champlain died in the fort at 
Quebec, December 25, 1635. 

1642. Father Isaac Jogues and Raymbault, S. J., 
plant the cross at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Jean 
Nicolet was drowned by the upsetting of a boat on the 
river, above Quebec, near the last of October, 1642. 
("History of the discovery of the North West, by C. W. 
Butterfield.") 

1646. Oct. 18th, Father Isaac Jogues killed by the 
Mohawks. 

1648. July 14th, the mission of St. Mary's on the 



23 History of Mackinac. 

river Richelieu, was surprised by the Iroquois, early in 
the morning" when the braves were absent on war or 
hunting- parties, and all the women and children, old 
men and the attending" priest (Father Daniel) were 
massacred. The Hurons were terrified and villag-e after 
villag-e was abandoned. 

1649. At day break, March 16, 1649, one thousand 
Iroquois assault the town of St. Ignatius on the Riche- 
lieu (Sorel) and all were butchered and scalped except 
three who escaped to St. Louis, near by. The Hurons 
fled in all directions and fifteen towns were abandoned. 
December 7, 1649, the village Etharita (near the head of 
Georg"ian Bay) of the Tinnontate Hurons (who cultivated 
tobacco), was attacked and the men, women and chil- 
dren and Father Garnier, tomahawked and massacred. 
After this g-eneral Alg-onquin defeat, "the Hurons and 
Ottawas settled for some years on Missilemackinac 
Island, and, ag-ain, fled to the islands at the entrance of 
Green Bay, thence to the shores." "Memorie," Nicolas 
Perrot, pp. 91, 92. 

Father Grelon escaped the slaughter, and afterwards 
went to China. Years after, on the plains of Tartary, 
he met a Huron woman whom he had known on the 
shores of Lake Huron. She had been sold from tribe to 
tribe until she had reached the steppes of Central Asia. 
Shea, "Cath. Missions," who cites Charlevoix, ch. V., 
p. 45. 

At that time the Huron mission was destroyed, thirty 
villag-es abandoned and the frig-htened Hurons fled 
across the waters to the islands and main land of lakes 
Huron, Superior and Michigan. In the massacre of 
March 16, 1649, Father John de Brebeuf, and March 17, 
Father Lallemant, S. J., were cruelly tortured to death. 



Nicholas Pej-refs Voyage to Green Bay. 29 

Father Allouez afterwards found some of the Hurons 
at Chag-aouamig-ong- Bay and the Apostles Islands, Lake 
Superior, in 1665, 

1654. Two French traders* pass by way of Michili- 
mackinac Island and Pointe Iroquois (St. Ig^nace) 
throug-h the straits to Green Bay. They return in 1656 
with 60 canoes, loaded with furs, and a larg-e party of 
Huron and Ottawas, bound for the market at Three 
Rivers on the St. Lawrence. 

1665. Nicholas Perret was the next known and 
recorded adventurer who made a canoe voyag-e throug-h 
the Straits of Michilimackinac to Green Bay. From 
1534 (up to this date) when Caftier explored the St. 
Lawrence and planted a colony far up in the interior of 
New France, that subsequently carried the fur trade to 
the banks of the Saskatchawan, there were Frenchmen 
in the province. Many of them were illiterate, and, of 
course, left no record. They were simply trappers and 
voyageurs. They ming-led with the Indians, inter- 
married, and adapted themselves to the native mode of 
life. The Indians built forts surrounded by palisades of 
cedar, implanted in the g-round, from twelve to twenty- 
five feet hig-h, for protection ag^ainst the assaults of other 
tribes. The French did the same, and taug-ht the sav- 
ag-es how to improve and better protect them. The 
voyag-eurs were the pioneers, the advance pickets of the 
coming- host of European usurpers. 

1668. The French continue to advance, as well as the 
English, Spanish and Portug-ese in other parts of the 
continent, until in 1668 they are found in the reg-ion 
of Michilimackinac controling" large and valuable mis- 
sions under the Jesuits. With them the arts of a more 



*Des Groseillers and Radisson. 



30 History of Mackinac. 

civilized people prevailed to some extent, and the natives 
were broug-ht to worship the God of the white man. 
About this time, 1668, New France, was divided into 
the following- provinces: 

1. Hudson Bay — All territory north of latitude 49° 
and west indefinitely. 

2. Quebec — With Canada east, southward to the head 
of Lake Champlain, and westward to the headwaters of 
the Ohio. 

3. Michilimackinac* — The country west of Quebec and 
southward to and along- the Ohio, to the western bound- 
ary of what is now Minnesota, and all the country drained 
into Lakes Superior and Huron. Acadiaf (Nova Scotia), 
Cape Breton, New Foundland, etc., were also included 
in New France. 

British America was then a strip of land between the 
Apalachian mountains and the Atlantic ocean. 

Spanish Possessions. — On the south of these was the 
Spanish possessions of Florida (Georgia included) and 
nearly all of the territory south of the Ohio, and the 
valley of the Mississippi as far as the mouth of the 
Illinois. 

Vice-Royalty of Mexico, called New Spain, included 
all to the southwest of these and north as far as Cape 
Mendocino on the Pacific coast. P^W north of that cape 
was unexplored and unknown. 

New Mexico. — Later, when the province of New Mex- 
ico was erected, it extended to the Missouri river, north, 
at the place of the Mandan Indians. 

Louisiana, under the French, claimed all territory 
south of parallel 31°, east of the Mississippi and west of 

*From about long- 78° E. to 97° W., lat. 49° to 50'' N. to 37° S. 
f At first a reg-ion with undefined and disputed boundaries 
between lat. 40° to 46° north. 



Province of Michilimackinac. 31 

Georg-ia, and west of the Mississippi from its mouth to 
its source as far as the Pacific ocean. It trenched on the 
Spanish possessions of Florida and New Mexico. 

1700. Province of Detroit. — That province was set off 
from Michilimackinac, and included all of Canada west 
above the Cataract of Niagara and north to Lake Huron, 
that part of Michig-an south of Sag-inaw Bay, and most 
of Ohio and Indiana. 

Detroit was settled in 1701 and in a few years became 
more important than Michilimackinac. Before that 
"Michilimackina" had a history and afterwards a sepa- 
rate history. 

Michilimackinac. — Before and after these last dates 
the capitol and the metropolis of the province of Michili- 
mackinac was on the island of the same name, in the 
Straits of Michilimackinac. It was not only the seat of 
justice and base of supplies, but the center of trade of a 
vast territory. It was the headquarters of French trad- 
ers and trappers and their Courier des Bois and white 
and Indian employees. The little island was well known 
and g"ave its name to the extensive Province of Mich- 
ilimackinac. 

Indian languag-e. All Indian lang-uag-es, Algonquin, 
or others, and the dialects of the various tribes and 
bands of tribes, are, as a rule, better spoken and more 
clearly understood by educated white people than by the 
natives themselves. There is nothing singular about 
this, it is so the world over with all intelligent peoples. 

The Chippewas and Ottawas are of Algonquin lineage 
and consequently their language is a dialect. Chippewa 
and Ottawa are much alike so that the two dialects are 
called one tongue or language. Chippewa is a wonder- 
fully regular and expressive language. It abounds in 



32 Histoij of Mackinac. 

verbs; nine-tenths, if not more, of its words are verbs, 
only two of which are irreg-ular. Many of the words 
thoug-h expressive are long" on account of adding" new 
syllables to the various moods, tenses, persons and 
participles of the verbs and of the compounding- of words 
from two or more roots. There are words that have 
from eig-ht to ten and as many as nineteen syllables. 
For instance: "Metchikmakobidjig'anikewininiwissig'O- 
baneag"," a. participle meaning-, "men who perhaps did 
not build fences." Such a word would be a nut for a 
German savant to crack. Just one more for our friends 
at the head of Lake Michigan: Chicag-o, Ottawa, she- 
g-og--oug-, locative case of she-g-og-, "skunk;" Nom., she- 
g-og-; loc, she-g-og--oug-; Obj., she-g-og- or she-g-og-- won. 
This ancient tong-ue has many words and syllables that 
are radical, resembling- those of Asiatic and European 
languag-es, and some have the same meaning. It is a 
"living-, acting lang-uage; everything in it seems to live 
and act." See Dictionary and Grammar of Chippewa, 
by Bishop Baraga. Beuchemin and Valois, 256-58, St. 
Paul St., Montreal, Canada. 

Michilimackinac. The name of the province Michili- 
mackinac is as before stated the one given by the sav- 
ages as rendered by the French to the island in the 
straits now called "Mackinac." 

Michili-"Mackina c, teriminal "c," silent "a" broad, 
pronounced in English ("Mackinaw"). There is no 
"w" in the French alphabet. In Mackina ck terminal 
"c"and "k" are both silent, "k" is superfluous. It is 
the French rendering, from the Chippewa and Ottawa 
dialet of Algonquin. The early French who got the 
name from the Indians spelled it in various ways, and 
so did the English, but always so as to get the present 



Chippewa Language. 33 

pronunciation, "Mackinaw," "Maquina," "Macina," 
"Macina c." The French being- the first dominants, 
their spelling- prevails, but the pronunciation is the same 
in French and Eng-lish; Mackina c, final "c" silent. In 
place of "w" beg-inning a word, the French use "ou," 
as "Ouisconsin," Eng-lish, "Wisconsin." 

Michilimackinac is claimed to be derived from the 
Indian words Michi, "Great," and Mackinac, "turtle," 
from a fancied resemblance to a large mud turtle; also 
from the Chippewa Mi-chi-ne Mau-ki-nouk, the two 
meaning "the place of g-iant fairies." Schoolcraft says 
there is another meaning- besides "great turtle." It al- 
so means "spirits," or "fairy spirits." The spirits were 
want to take the form of a turtle and become "turtle 
spirits." 

The nine Iroquois tribes were divide'd into two di- 
visions of four and five tribes each. The first of the 
four tribes was called "Atiniathan," and known as the 
"Tortoise" tribe. "It is the first because they pretend, 
when the Master of Life made the Earth, that he placed 
it on a tortoise; and when there were earthquakes it is 
the tortoise that stirs." ("1666. Paris Loc, I.)* 

Some of the Huron bands had for totems the tortoise, 
bear and plover. The bear was brother to the tortoise, 
as with the Iroquois. 

Macka-de-pe-nessy (Blackbird), an Indian interpreter 
and son of an Ottawa chief, says that "Mi-she-mi-ki- 
nock" (Chippewa) does not mean "large turtle" nor 
"monstrous large turtle." "Michilimackinac" is not de- 
rived from "Michimickinock." 

When the Ottawas discovered the Island of Michili- 
mackinac, long- before the Spaniards first came to 

*Doc. Hist, of New York, Vol. 1, Page 3. 
3 



34 History of Mackinac. 

America, it was inhabited by a small remnant, independ- 
ent tribe, who became confederates with the Ottawas. 

The Ottawas were then living- on the Manitoula Island, 
Lake Huron. Their enemies, the Iroquois, of New York, 
often made war with them. Once in the dead of winter 
the Ottawas were having- a great jubilee and war dances 
on Manitoulin Island to celebrate their victory over the 
Winnebagoes of Ouisconsin, when the Iroquois swept 
down upon them and annihilated all but two- Those 
two, a young man and maiden, escaped, and traveled 
over the ice to Michilimackinac Island, with inverted 
snow shoes. That was done to prevent their tracks be- 
ing followed. They made their hiding place in the 
natural caves of the island. They selected the wildest 
part of the forest and lived in seclusion. They were oc- 
casionally seen, and, in time, they raised a family of ten 
children, all boys. One winter the whole family van- 
ished in some mysterious way. Ever since the Ottawas 
and Chippewas have called them "Paw-g-wa-tchaw-nish- 
nawbay." "Wild roaming supernatural being-." To this 
day they are in existence, roaming in the wildest parts 
of the island and on the mainland. They can be seen, 
or unseen, just as they, as spirits, please. Sometimes 
they will throw a stone or a war club at a person walk- 
ing in a lonely place, at other times they will throw at 
your dog and set him to barking with fright. Again 
they will, in day or night, throw clubs at a lodg-e in a 
lonely place, and have been heard walking- around the 
wio-wam. They have been tracked over the snow 
by hunters, but never overtaken. An Indian or hunter 
walking or hunting- alone, will apprehend some great 
evil, and be seized with an unearthly frig-ht that makes 
him shiver from head to feet, and the hairs on his head 



Indian Legend. 35 

stand up like porcupine quills. You are benumbed with 
terror by these spirits, the sensation is so awful. But 
they never harm any one. 

When an Indian recovers from the spell he generally 
exclaims, "Pshaw! there is nothing- to fear, it is Paw- 
gwa-tchaw-nish-naw-bay approaching me, he wants 
something." They then leave tobacco, powder or some- 
thing else in their tracks that the spirits fancy when in 
the flesh. If they appear and talk to you they always 
begin with the sad tale of the great catastrophy on the 
Island of Mackinac, and whoever is so fortunate as to 
see and talk to them, always becomes a prophet to his 
people. 

Reader, if you are imaginative, and seek these lonely 
woods and caves alone, and the proper spell comes over 
you, perhaps you may see those spirit fairies, face to 
face, and learn of them their tragic fate. Therefore, ac- 
cording to understood traditions, the tribal name of 
those people was "Mishine-macki naw-go," which is to 
this day a monument to their existence. The Ottawas 
and Chippewas named the little island "Mi-shi ne- 
macki-nong," in memorial of their former confederates. 
It is the locative case of the Indian noun, "Michine- 
mackinawgo," and is where the name Michilimackinac 
originated. It is said some of the paleface chiefs, tour- 
ists of the present day, vie with the Indians of the Fairy 
Isle, and induct the spirits from their secluded abodes 
into their corporeal forms. They tell us that the island 
is truly a resort that revels with spirits of the departed. 

We have dished up a salad, as a relish and variety, 
some of the renderings of the name: 

"Missilimakina." "Missilimakenak." 

' 'Missilimaquina. " ' 'Missilimakinak. " 



36 History of Mackinac. 

' 'Missilimaquine. " ' 'Missilimackinae. " 

"Michilimaquina." "Missilimackinae." 

"Michilimachina." "Michilimackinac." 

"Mackina." "Machinac." 

''Macina." "Mackinaw." 

"Maquina." "Mackinac." 

If you only gfet the "Nac" right, you will know how 
to "Na c" ("naw") the name. 

1653. We drop back a few years, to 1653, when the 
Iroquois invaders, eig-ht hundred strong-, pass the 
Straits of Michilimackinac to attack the Hurons at 
Green Bay. They laid sieg-e to the place for a pro- 
tracted time, but failed to capture the fort. The Iro- 
quois then broke up into two divisions, one marched 
south and the other sailed northward throug-h Lake 
Michig-an. The first division met the Illinois and were 
cut down and captured by them. The Lake Michig-an 
division met the same fate from the Chippewas, Missis- 
aki and other ("Nig-ik") tribes on Lake Huron. 

1660. Looking- forward from our last date we find 
Father Reni Menard, S. J., October 15, 1660, at Keewen- 
aw Bay, Lake Superior. He perished or was killed at 
the head waters of Black River, Ouisconsin, about 
Aug-ust 10, 1661. 

Early records confirm the statement that Frenchmen 
were at Green Bay, Lake Superior, Sault Ste. Marie 
("Soo") and Michilimackinac before the visits of the 
"Black-g-owns" mentioned by Bancroft. They came 
one year and returned the next (on their tours of trade 
and barter) with flotillas of canoes richly laden with 
furs, often convoyed by Hurons and o.ther Alg-onquins, 
in bands, from three hundred to five hundred strong-. 
The Indians would make their long- voyag-e in larg-e 



Father- AUoiiez at the Mission. 37 

numbers, united to defend themselves from their 
enemies, the Iroquois* 

We find Father Allouez at the Mission of the Alon- 
g-uin Outaouacs (Ottawas) "La Pointe du Saint Esprit," 
on Lake Superior in the Province of Michilimackinac, 
in 1669. That year he went down to Quebec and turned 
over to Monsieur de Courcelles some Iroquois captives 
whom he had redeemed of the Outaouacs. Father 
Claude Dablon was sent to the Superior Missions and 
Allouez went to Sault Ste. Marie, and remained until 
November 3, 1669, He then departed for Bay of the 
Puants (Green Bay), by way of the island of Michili- 
mackinac, arriving- December 2, 1669. 

1669. Michilimackinac Island was occupied and aban- 
doned (for reasons of safety) by different bands of Indi- 
ans from time to time, long" before this period. It had 
often been passed and visited by French traders and 
was well known. It was there the mission of St. Ig- 
natius was founded before it was established at Point 
St. Ig-nace. • "The Hurons settled on the famous Island 
of Missilimackinac where we commenced last winter the 
mission of St. Ignace.f 

*Drawn from "Hist, and Biog. Notes" and "Relations," 1660- 
1663, and other sources. 

f Missionary Labors of Marquette, Menard and Allouez, Chap. 
xxix, p. 114, Rev. Chrysostom Verwyst, O. S. F. 



38 



History of Mackinac. 




[Permission of St. Igaace Enterprise.] 
ST. IGNACE DE MICHILIMACKINAC, i6bQ— 1880. 

Marquette, 1670, in his letter from Mackinac Island, 
published in this volume, writes: " We ourselves have 
also v^intered here," Michilimackinac Island, "in order 
to make arrang-ements for establishing- the Mission of 
St. Ig"nace." It shows he was on the island, with 
Dablon, the winter of 1669-70, and that some of the 
Indians from La Pointe, Lake Superior, " were alread}' 
there," St. Ignace. 

1899. Saint : Ig-nace thoug^h old is, in many respects, 
new, and bids fair to be a resort for tourists and a sani- 
tarium, sharing" the laurels, as it does its history, with 
the famous "Fairy Island," opposite. The city has a 
population of about 2,500, an electric lig-ht plant and a 
system of water works that supplies the purest water on 
the g-lobe. The scenery is fine. You can drive many 
miles over magnificent roads, constructed with cornifer- 
ous limestone that forms bluffs and fantastic, weird 
rocks like those of Mackinac Island. 



Father Marquette at St. Ignace. 39 

FATHER MARQUETTE AT ST. IGNACE. 

"The* Hurons of the Tobacco tribe, called Tionnon- 
tate, having" been formerly driven from their country by 
the Iroquois, fled to this Island, named Missiliraack- 
inac, so famous for its fishery. They could only stay a 
few years, however, the very same enemies oblig-ing" 
them to leave this very advantag'eous post. They with- 
drew, therefore, still further to the islands which still 
bear their name, and are located at the entrance of the 
Ba}- of Puants. Not finding" themselves sufficiently 
safe, however, even there, they went far back into the 
woods, and from there finally chose as their last dwell- 
ing--place the extremity of Lake Superior, in a place 
called La Pointe do Saint Esprit. There they were far 
enough awaj- from the Iroquois not to fear them, but 
they were too near the Nadouessi, who are, as it were, 
the Iroquois of these quarters of the North, being- the 
most powerful and war-like people of this country. 

"Still all proceeded peaceably enough for several years 
until the last (1671), when the Nadouessi having- been 
irritated by the Hurons and Outaouacs, war broke out 
between them, and it began so furiously that several 
prisoners taken on both sides were consig-ned to the 
flames. 

"The Nadouessi, however, did not wish to begin an)^ 
act of hostilit}' until after the}- had returned to Father 
Marquette some pictures of which he had made them a 
present, so as to g-ive them some idea of our relig-ion and 
thus to instruct them by the eye, as he was unable to do 
otherwise on account of their language, which is alto- 
gether different from the Alg-onquin and Huron. 

* Relation of 1672, pp. 35 and 36. 



40 History of Mackinac. 

"Enemies so formidable soon struck terror into the 
heart of our -Hurons and Outaouacs, who determined to 
abandon La Pointe du Saint Esprit and all the fields 
thej had so long cultivated. 

"In their flig-ht the Hurons, rememberino- the great 
advantages they had formerly found at Missilimackinac 
turned their eyes thither, as to a place of refuge, which 
they actually reached a year ago. 

"This place has all the advantages that can be desired 
by Indians. Fish is abundant there at all seasons, the 
land is productive, and the chase for bears, deer and 
lynx is carried on with great success. Besides it is the 
great rendezvous of all the tribes who are going to or 
coming from the north or south. 

"For this reason, foreseeing what has since actually 
taken place, we erected a chapel there last 3^ear already, 
in order to receive those passing by and to attend to the 
Hurons, who have settled there. 

"Father Marquette, who has followed them from La 
Pointe du Saint Esprit, still has charge of them."* 

Marquette left La Pointe in the spring of 1671. He 
did not reach Sault Ste. Marie in time for the great 
gathering of tribes (that year June 14), to make a treaty 
with the French. When he reached "Missilimackinac" 
(Pointe St. Ignace) he found "a chapel built the winter 
before by Father Dablon," also 386 Christian Hurons 
and sixty Outaouacsinagaux." (See Hist, and Biog. 
notes. ) 

Marquette must have been on the island of Michili- 
mackinac in 1670, as he passed a winter there before he 
planted his mission at Point Iroquois (St. Ignace) or 
North Michilimackinac. He lived on the island ( "Mack- 

*Id. pp. 115-116. 



Michilhnacki)uic Island. 41 

inac") whilst he was building- the chapel and preparing- 
for his colony. 

The following- is an extract from a letter of Jaques 
Marquette written on Mackinac Island in 1670 (see 
"Relations des Jesuits," 1671): 

"Michilimackinac is an island famous in these reg-ions, 
of more than a league in diameter, and elevated in some 
places by such high cliffs as to be seen more than 
twelve leag-ues off. It is situated just in the strait 
forming- the communication between Lake Huron and 
Illinois (Michigan). It is the key, and, as it were, the 
g-ate for all the tribes from the south, as the Sault is for 
those from the north, there being- in this section of 
country only those two passag-es by water; for a great 
number of nations have to g-o by one or the other of these 
channels in order to reach the French settlements. 

"This presents a peculiarly favorable opportunity, 
both for instructing- those who pass here, and also for 
obtaining- easy access and convej-ance to their places of 
abode. 

"This place is the most noted in these regions for the 
abundance of its fishes; for, according- to the Indian say- 
ing-, 'this is the home of the fishes." Elsewhere, although 
they exist in large numbers, is not properly their 'home,' 
which is in the neighborhood of Michilimackinac. 

"In fact, besides the fish common to all the other 
tribes, as the herring-, carp, pike, g-old-fish, white-fish 
and sturg-eon, there are found three varieties of the trout, 
— one common, the second of a larger size, three feet 
long- and one foot thick, the third monstrous, for we 
cannot otherwise describe it, it being- so fat that the 
Indians, who have a peculiar relish for fats, can scarcely 
eat it. Besides, the supply is such that a single Indian 



42 History oj Mackinac. 

will take forty or fifty of them through the ice with a 

single spear in three hours. 

"It is this attraction which has heretofore drawn to a 
point so advantageous the greater part of the savages in 
this country, driven away by fear of the Iriquois. The 
three tribes at present living on the Bay des Puants 
(Green Bay) as strangers, formerly dwelt on the main 
land near the middle of this island — some on the borders 
of Lake Illinois, others on the borders of Lake Huron. 
A part of them, called Satiteurs, had their abode on the 
main land at the west, and the others looked upon this 
as their country for passing the winter, when there are 
no fish at the Sault. The Hurons, called Etononiathron- 
nons, have lived for some years in the same island, to 
escape the Iriquois. Four villages of Ottawas had also 
their abode in this quarter. 

"It is worthy of notice that those who bore the name 
of the island, and called themselves Michiliraackinac, 
were so numerous that some of the survivors yet living 
here assure us that they once had thirty villages, all 
inclosed in a fortification of a league and a half in cir- 
cuit, when the Iriquois came and defeated them, inflated 
by a victory they had gained over three thousand men of 
that nation, who had carried their hostilities as far as 
the country of the Agnichronnons. 

"In one word, the quantity of fish, united with the 
excellence of the soil for Indian corn, has always been 
a powerful attraction to the tribes in these regions, of 
which the greater part subsist only on fish, but some on 
Indian corn. On this account, many of these same tribes, 
perceiving that the peace is likely to be established with 
the Iriquois, have turned their attention to this point, so 
convenient for a return to their own country and will 
follow the examples of those who have made a beginning 



Michiiiuiackinac Island. 43 

on the islands of Lake Huron, which by this means will 
soon be peopled from one end to the other, an event 
highly desirable to facilitate the instruction of the 
Indian race, whom it would not be necessary to seek by 
journeys of two or three hundred leagues on these great 
lakes, with inconceivable danger and hardship. 

"In order to aid the execution of the design, signified 
to us by many of the savages, of taking up their abode at 
this point, where some have already passed the winter, 
hunting in the neighborhood, we ourselves have also 
wintered here, in order to make arrangements for estab- 
lishinsf the Mission St. Igrnace, from whence it will be 
easy to all the Indians of Lake Huron, when the several 
tribes shall have settled each on its own lands. 

"With these advantages, the place has also its incon- 
veniences, particularly for the French, who are not fa- 
miliar as are the savages, with the different kinds of 
fishery, in which the latter are trained from their birth; 
the winds and the tides occasion no small embarrass- 
ment to the fishermen. 

"The winds: For this is the central point between 
the three great lakes which surround it, and which 
seem incessantly tossing ball at each other. For no 
sooner has the wind ceased blowing from Lake Michigan 
than Lake Huron hurls back the gale it has received, 
and Lake Superior in its turn sends forth its blast from 
another quarter, and thus the game is played from one 
to the other; and as these lakes are of vast extent, the 
winds cannot be otherwise than boisterous, especially 
during the autumn." 

Disgressing from the mission of St. Ignace we come to 
an event connected therewith, at "Sainte Marie du 
Sault," in the spring and summer of 1671, that was in- 
tended for a master stroke of diplomacy. If it had con- 



44 History of Mackinac. 

tinued for any leng-tli of time the results would have 
been far reaching, so as to have made the French do- 
main permanent in North America. It was a grathering' 
of the tribes and bands from all directions to take part 
in a general council at the "Sault" to consider a treaty 
with the representative of the Ffench court, and to place 
the Indians under the protection of the king of France. 
We quote extracts from "Memoirs of Nicolas Perrot," 
the account of that mass meeting, as given by Rev. 
Chrysostom Verwyst, O. S. F., in "Missionary Labors," 
etc.: 

GREAT MASS-MEETING AT SAULT STE. MARIE IN 1671; NAMES 

OF THOSE WHO SIGNED THE TREATY; 

PERROT'S ACCOUNT. 

"The treaty was signed in the presence of Dablon,' 
Superior of the mission, and his colleagues, Dreuilletes, 
Allouez," Andr6 of the Society of Jesus; Nicolas Perrot,^ 
interpreter; Sieur Jollyet;* Jacques Mogras of Three 
Rivers; Pierre Moreau, the Sieur de la Taupine; Denis 
Masse; Franyois de Chavigny, Sieur de la Chevrottiere; 
Jacques Lagillier, Jean Maysere, Nicholas Dupuis, 
Francois Bibaud, Jaques Joviel, Pierre Porteret,^ Rob- 

^ Dablon and Dreuilletes were stationed at Sault, thoug-h Dab- 
Ion spent a part of the winter of lb70-7l at Mackinac, building a 
rude bark chapel there. 

- Allouez and Andr^ were stationed at Green Bay, Andre hav- 
ing- charg-e of the missionary stations at the head of said bay, 
while Allouez attended the island missions. 

^ Nicholas Perrot, the author of the "Memoire." held several 
offices under the Canadian government, was "Coureur de bois," 
interpreter, and kind of governor or commandant at Green 
Bay, between 1665-1701. 

^ Jollyet accompanied Father Marquette upon his voyage of 
discovery and exploration down the Mississippi. 

^ Pierre Porteret accompanied Father Marquette on his last 
journey to the Illinois in 1674, and was present at his death on 
the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in 1675. 



Mass-Meeting at Sault Ste. Marie. 45 

ert Duprat, Vital Driol, Guillaume Bonhomme." (Mar- 
gry, vol. I. p. 97.) 

Nicholas Perrot sa3^s:' . 

"When the latter had arrived, he asked me if I would 
like to go to the Outaouas, as interpreter, and conduct 
there his subdelegate, whom he would place there to 
take possession of their country. I informed him that I 
was always read}^ to obey him, and offered him my 
services. I left, therefore, with the Sieur de Saint Lus- 
son, his subdelegate, and we arrived at Montreal, where 
we remained until the beginning of the month, Obtober 
(1670). We were obliged on our way to winter with the 
Amikouets (Beaver Indians). The Saulteurs (Chippe- 
was of Sault Ste. Marie) also wintered at the same place 
and secured more than two thousand four hundred elks 
on an island called the 'Island of the Outaouas,' (Man- 
itoulin Island) which extends the length of Lake Huron, 
from the point opposite St. Francis River to that of the 
Missisakis, going towards Michilimakinak. This ex- 
traordinary chase was nevertheless only made with 
snares. 

"On the 5th of the month of May, I went to Sault Ste. 
Marie with the principal chiefs of the Pouteouatamies, 
Sakis Puants (Winnebagoes), Malhommis (Menom- 
inees). Those of the Foxes, Mascoutechs (Maskoutens), 
Kikaboos (Kickapoos) and Miamies did not pass the bay 
(Green Bay). Among them was a man by the name of 
Tetinchoua, head chief of the Miamies, who, as if he 
were their king, had day and night in his wigwam forty 
young men as a body-guard. The village over which he 
ruled had from four to five thousand braves; in one 
word he was feared and respected by all his neighbors. 

"I found at my arrival, not only the chiefs of the 

^ "Memoire," pp. 126-128. 



46 History of Mackinac. 

north, but also all the Kiristinons (Crees), Monsonis and 
whole villages of their neig-hbors; the chiefs of the Nip- 
issing-s were there also, besides those of the Amikouets 
and all of the Saulteurs, who had their settlement in 
the place itself. The pole was erected in their presence 
and the arms of France attached to it with the consent 
of all the tribes, who, not knowing how to write, gave 
presents as their signatures, declaring in this manner 
that they placed themselves under the protection and 
obedience of the king. The Process-Verbal was drawn 
up in regard to this act of assuming possession, which I 
signed as interpreter, with the Sieur de Saint Lusson, 
subdelegate; the Rev. Missionary Fathers Dablon, Allou- 
ez, Dreuilletes and Marquet signed lower down, and below 
them the French who were trafficking in the various lo- 
calities. This was done following the instructions 
given M. Talon. After that, all those tribes returned 
each to their country and lived several years without 
any trouble from one side or the other. 

"I forgot to say that the Hurons and Outaouas did 
not arrive till after the act of taking possession, for 
they had fled from *Chagouamigon (Chequamegon) on 
account of having eaten some Sioux, as I have related 
above. They were informed of what had lately been 
done and agreed, like the rest, to all that had been con- 
cluded and decided on." 



*Chagaouaraig"ong, pronounced Sha-ga-wa-mi-gong. To pro- 
nounce Indian words, observe that: 
a is pronounced like a in father, far. 
e is pronounced like a in way, say. 
i is pronouned like ee in feel, seen, 
o is pronounced like o in own, sown, 
ou is pronounced like oo in foot, fool. 
French ch is pronounced like sh in she, show. 
kw is pronounced like q in queen. 



Process - Verbal. 47 

Copy of the process-verbal of the taking possession 
of the indian country.i 

Preliminary remarks of Father J. Tailhan, S. J., 
publisher and annotator of Perrot's "Memoire." 

"The 'Relation' of 1671 (see text) and La Potherie 
(II, pp. 128-130) contain many details in reg-ard to this 
act of taking- possession omitted by Perrot, to which 
the reader is referred. I will merely g-ive here the un- 
published Process- Verbal of that ceremony, after the 
somewhat incorrect copy deposited in the archives of the 

marine The passag-es suppressed and replaced by 

dots offer no historical interest; they are but simple 
protocols or useless repetitions." 

PROCESS-VERBAL. 

"Simon Francois Daumont, esquire, Sieur de Saint 
Lusson, commissioned subdelegfate of Monseig-neur, the 
Intendant of New France. . . . 

"In accordance with the orders we have received from 
Monseigneur, the Intendant of New France, the 3d of 
last July ... .to immediately proceed to the country of 
the Indian Outaouais, Nez-percez, Illinois, and other 
nations, discovered and to be discovered, in North 
America, in the reg-ion of Lake Superior or Mer-Douce 
(Huron), to make there search and discovery of mines of 
all sorts, especially of copper, ordering- us moreover to 
take possession in the name of the king of all the 
country, inhabited or not inhabited, through which we 
may pass.... We, in virtue of our commission, have 
made our first disembarkment at the village or burg of 
Sainte Marie du Sault, the place where the Rev. Jesuit 
Fathers make their mission, and where the Indian tribes, 
called Achipoes, Malamechs, Noguets, and others make 
their actual abode. We have convoked there as many 

1 "Memoire," pp. 292-294. 



48 History of Mackinac. 

other tribes as it was in our power to assemble, and they 
met there to the number of fourteen tribes, namely the 
Achipoes,' Malamechs,^ Nog-uets,'' Banabeoueks,* Mako- 
miteks,^ Poult^at^mis,* Oumaloumines,' Sassaouacot- 
tons,^ dwelling- at the Bay called that of the Puants 
(Green Bay), and who have taken it upon themselves to 
make it (treat}^) known to their neig^hbors, who are the 
Illinois,'' Mascoutins,"' Outag-amis," and other nations; 
also the Christinos,'^ Assinipouals,'^ Aumossomiks,'* 
Outaouais-Couscottons,'^ Niscaks,'" Maskwikoukiaks,''all 
of them inhabiting- the countries of the North and near 
the sea, who have charg-ed themselves with making it 
known to their neighbors, who are believed to be in 
g-reat numbers dwelling- near the shores of the same sea. 
We have caused this, our said commission, to be read to 
them in the presence of the Rev. Fathers of the Society 
of Jesus, and of all the Frenchmen named below, and 
have had it interpreted by Nicolas Perrot, interpreter of 
His Majesty in this matter, in order that they may not 
be able (to claim) to be ig-norant of it. Having- then 
caused a cross to be erected to produce there the fruits of 
Christianity, and near it a cedar pole, to which we have 
attached the arms of France, saying three times with a 
loud voice and public proclamation, that IN THE NAME 
OF THE MOST HIGH, MOST POWERFUL, AND 
MOST REDOUBTABLE MONARCH, LOUIS XIV. 
OF NAME, MOST CHRISTIAN KING OF FRANCE 
AND NAVARRE, we take possession of said place, 
Sainte Marie du Sault, as also of the Lakes Huron and 



'Chippewas, ''Merameg-, Man-um-aig, "Catfish," ^Noquets, No- 
kaig-, "Bear Family or Clan," *Ne-baun-aub-aig (?), "Merman 
Clan," ^Makomiteks (?), ®Pottawatamies, 'Menominees, '^Nassa- 
waketons, "People of the Fork," 'Illinois, "'Mashkouteng-, Muska- 
tine, Muskoda, "Prarie People," ^'Foxes, ^^Crees, '^Assineboines, 
"Stonycountry Sioux," '^Mousoneeg, "Moose," '^Ottawa Kiska- 
kon (?) or Ataouabouskatouk, a Cree tribe, '^Kiskakons(?), ''Mas- 
kwakeeg" (?), Foxes, or Mikikoueks. 



Process- Verbal. 49 

Superior, the Island of Caientaton (Manitouline), and 
of all other lands, rivers, lakes and streams contiguous 
to and adjacent here, as well discovered as to be dis- 
covered, which are bounded on the one side by the 
seas of the North and West, and on the other side 
by the sea of the South, in its whole leng-th or depth, 
taking- up at each of the said three proclamations a sod 
of earth, crying- 'Vive le Roy !' and causing the same to 
be cried by the whole assembly, as well French as Indi- 
ans, declaring to the said nations aforesaid and here- 
after that from henceforth they were to be protegees 
(subjects) of His Majesty, subject to obey his laws and 
follow his customs, promising them all protection and 
succor on his part against the incursion and invasion of 
their enemies, declaring to all other potentates, sovereign 
princes, as well States as Republics, to them or their 
subjects, that they neither can nor shall seize upon or 
dwell in any place of this country, unless with the good 
pleasure of his said most Christian Majesty, and of him 
who shall govern the land in his name, under penalty of 
incurring his hatred and the efforts of his arms. And 
that none may pretend ignorance of this transaction, we 
have now attached on the reverse side of the arms of 
France our Process- Verbal of the taking possession, 
signed by ourselves and the persons below named, who 
were all present. 

"Done at Sainte Marie du Sault, the 14th day of June, 
in the year of grace 1671. 

"Daumont de Saint Lusson." 

(Then follow the signatures of the witnesses.) 

After the congress at Sault Ste. Marie, Marquette 

returned with the Indians to "Pointe St. Ignace" of 

Michilimackinac. No account has been found of his 

first year's labors at that mission, but in the second year 



50 History of Mackinac. 

he wrote to Father Dablon, the following-, translated 
from the Erench. ("Shea's Dis, and Explor. of the 
Mississippi.") 

"Rev. Father, — The Hurons, called Tionnontater- 
onnons or Petun Nation, who compose the Mission of 
St. Ig-natius at Michilimackinong", began last year near 
the chapel a fort inclosing- all their cabins. They have 
come reg-ularly to prayers, and have listened more read- 
ily to the instructions I g-ave them, consenting- to what 
I required to prevent their disorders and abominable 
customs. We must have patience with untutored minds, 
who know onl}' the devil, who, like their ancestors, have 
been his slaves, and who often relapse into the sin, in 
which they were nurtured. God alone can fix these 
tickle minds, and place and keep them in His g-race, and 
touch their hearts while we stammer at their ears. 

"The Tionnontateronnons number this year three hun- 
dred and eighty souls, and besides sixty Outaouasina- 
gaux have joined them. Some of these came from the 
mission of St. Francis Xavier, where Father Andre 
wintered with them last year. They are quite changed 
from what I saw them at Lapointe. The zeal and 
patience of that missionary have gained to the faith 
those hearts which to us seemed most averse to it. They 
now wish to be Christians; they bring their children to 
the chapel to be baptized, and come regularl}' to prayers. 

"Having been obliged to go to St. Marie du Sault 
with Father Allouez last summer, the Hurons came to 
the chapel during my absence as regularly as if I had 
been there, the girls singing what prayers they knew. 
They counted the days of my absence, and constantly 
asked when I was to be back. I was absent only four- 
teen days, and on my arrival all assembled at the chapel, 



Marquette' s Letter to Father Dahlon. 51 

some coming- even from their fields, which are at a very 
considerable distance. 

"I went readily to their pumpkin feast, where I 
instructed them, and invited them to thank God, who 
g-ave them food in plenty, while other tribes that had 
not yet embraced Christianity were actually strug-g-ling- 
with famine. I ridiculed dreams, and urg-ed those who 
had been baptized to acknowledg^e Him v/hose adopted 
children they were. Those who g-ave the feast, thoug-h 
still idolaters, spoke in hig-h terms of Christianity, and 
openly made the sig-n of the cross before all present. 
Some young- men, whom they had tried by ridicule to 
prevent from doing- it, persevered, and make the sig-n of 
the cross in the greatest assemblies, even when I am 
not present. 

"An Indian of distinction among- the Hurons, having 
invited me to a feast where the chiefs were, called them 
severally by name, and told them that he wished to de- 
clare his thoughts, that all mig-ht know it, namely, that 
he was a Christian; that he renounced the g-od of dreams 
all their lewd dances; that the black-g-own was master of 
his cabin; and that for nothing- that mig-ht happen would 
he forsake his resolution. Delig-hted to hear this, I spoke 
more strong-ly than I had ever yet done, telling- that my 
only desig-n was to put them in the way of heaven; that 
for this alone I remained among- them; that this oblig-ed 
me to assist them at the peril of my life. As soon as 
anything- is said in an assemply, it is immediately di- 
vulged throug-h all the cabins, as I saw in this case by 
the assiduity of some in coming- to prayers, and by the 
malicious efforts of others to neutralize m}^ instructions. 

"Severe as the winter is, it does not prevent the Indians 
from coming- to the chapel. Some come twice a day, 
be the wind or cold what it may. Last fall I beg-an to 



52 History oj Mackinac. 

instruct some to make g^eneral confessions of their whole 
life, and to prepare others who had never confessed 
since their baptism. I would not have supposed that 
Indians could have g-iven so exact an account of .all that 
had happened in the course of their life; but it was 
seriously done, as some took two weeks to examine 
themselves. Since then I have perceived a marked 
chang-e; so that they will not even go to ordinary feasts 
without asking- my permission. I have this year baptized 
twenty-eight children, one of which had been brought 
from Ste. Marie du Sault, without having received that 
sacrament, as the Rev. P. Henry Nouvel informed me, 
to put me on my guard. Without my knowing it, the 
child fell sick; but God permitted that, while instructing 
in my cabin two important and sensible Indians, one 
asked me whether such a sick child was baptized. I 
went at once, baptized it, and it died the next night. 
Some of the other children, too, are dead, and now in 
heaven. These are the consolations which God sends 
us, which make us esteem our life more happy as it is 
more wrecked. 

"This, father, is all I have to give about this mission, 
where minds are now more mild, tractable, and better 
disposed to receive instruction, than in any other part. I 
am ready, however, to leave it in the hands of another 
missionary to go on your order to seek new nations to- 
ward the South Sea who are still unknown to us, and to 
teach them of our great God, whom they have hitherto 
unknown." 

The French shared with others the idea of the Miss- 
issippi flowing into the Gulf of California, and in that 
way they could find a short passage to China. 

In 1672 Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac, succeed- 
ed M. de Courcelles as governor of Canada. As soon as 
he arrived, M. Talon, the Intendant, laid before him 



JJiirq Hello's Narralive. S3 

the plan of exploring- the Mississippi River, For this 
great underta)cing- they chose the Sieur JoUyet, wishing" 
to have Father Marquette accompany him. On the 
8th of December, 1672, feast of the Immaculate Concep- 
tion, Jollyet arrived at St. Ignace, Mackinac and told 
Father Marquette the joyful news of their appointment 
to visit and explore the Mississippi. The pious missionary 
was glad. For years he had longed for an opportunit}' to 
visit the "Great River." Ever since he had come to the 
Ottawa country he had invoked Mary Immaculate to 
obtain the grace for him to be able to visit the nations 
on the Mississippi. Now his prayer was about to be 
• heard. He placed his intended voyage under the special 
protection of the Immaculate Mother of God, promising- 
her that, should he be so happy as to discover the gr«at 
river, he would call it Conception River and give the 
same name to the first Mission he would found among 
the Illinois. Five Frenchmen volunteered to share with 
Marquette and Joll3^et the hardships and dangers of so 
glorious an enterprise. The winter of 1672-3 was spent 
in making the necessary preparations and collecting in- 
formation from the Indians. They drew up a map, on 
which they marked the course of the rivers they were to 
navigate, the names of the tribes and localities through 
which they were to pass, the course of the great river. 

The following, from Marquette's own narrative, is 
published by Shea: 

"The day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin, whom I had always invoked since I have been 
in this Ottawa country, to obtain of God the grace to be 
able to visit the nations on the river Mississippi, was 
identically that on which M. Joliet arrived with orders 
of the Comte de Frontenac, our governor, and M. Talon, 
our intendant, to make this discovery with me. t was 
the more enraptured at this good news, as I saw my 



54 History of Mackinac. 

designs on the point of being" accomplislied, and myself 
in the happy necessity of exposing my life for the sal- 
vation of all these nations, and particularly for the Illi- 
nois, who had, when I was at Lapointe du St. Esprit, 
very earnestly entreated me to carry the word of God to 
their country. 

"We were not long in preparing our outfit, although we 
were embarking on a voyage the duration of which we 
could not foresee. Indian corn, with some dried meat, 
was our whole stock of provisions. With this, we set 
out in two bark canoes — M, Joliet, myself, and five men 
— firmly resolved to do all and suffer all for so glorious 
an enterprise 

"It was on the 17th of May, 1673, that we started 
from the mission of St. Ignatius, at Michilimackinac, 
where I then was. Our joy at being chosen for this 
expedition roused onr courage, and sweetened the labor 
of rowing from morning till night. As we were going 
to seek unknown countries, we took all possible precau- 
tions, that, if our enterprise was hazardous, it should 
not be foolhardy. For this reason we gathered all pos- 
sible information from Indians who had frequented 
those parts, and even from their accounts traced a map 
of all the new country, marking down the rivers on 
which we were to sail, the names of the nations and 
places through which we were to pass, the course of the 
Great River, and what direction we should take when 
we got to it. 

"Above all, I put our voyage under the protection of 
the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, promising her, that if 
she did us the grace to discover the Great River, I would 
give it the name of Conception; and that I would also 
give that name to the first mission which I should estab- 
lish among these new nations, as I have actually done 
amnn<»- the Illinois. 



Marquette's Narfaiive. 55 

"With all these precautions, we made our paddles play 
merrily over a part of Lake Huron, and that of the Illi- 
nois, into the Bay of the Fetid (Green Bay). The first 
nation that we met was that of the Wild Oats (Eng"lish, 
wild rice). I entered their river (Menominie) to visit 
them, as we have preached the gfospel to these tribes for 
some years past, so that there are many gfood Christians 
among them. 

"I informed these people of the Wild Oats of my 
design of going- to discover the distant nations to instruct 
them in the mysteries of our holy religion; they were 
very much surprised, and did their best to dissuade me. 
They told me that I would meet nations that never spare 
strangers, but tomahawk them without any provocation; 
that the war which had broken out among the various 
nations on our route, exposed us to another evident 
danger — that of being killed by the war parties which 
are constantly in the field; that the Great River is very 
dangerous, unless the dif&cult parts are known; that it 
was full of frightful monsters, who swallowed up men 
and canoes together; that there is even a demon there 
who can be heard from afar, who stops the passage and 
engulfs all who dare approach; lastly, that the heat is 
so excessive in those countries that it would infallibly 
cause our death. 

"I thanked them for their kind advice, but assured 
them that I could not follow it, as the salvation of souls 
was concerned; that for them I should be too happy to 
lay down my life; that I made light of their pretended 
demon, that we would defend ourselves well enough 
against the river monsters, and besides, we should be on 
our guard to avoid the other dangers with which they 
threatened us." 

The following extracts are from "Memoirs of Pere 
James Marquette," by John R. Bailey, M. D., A. A. 



56 History of Mackinac. 

Surgeon, U. S. Army. Published by direction of the 
"Marquette Monument Association," Mackinac, Mich. 
July 17, 1878: 

"Leaving- the bay they enter Fox River, about 260 
miles long-, -where there are many birds feeding- on -wild 
oats. Advancing- up the river they passed the rapids 
and approached Masl^outens, -where they arrived June 
7, 1673. 

"June 10. Taking- two Alg-onquin g-uides they started 
for a river, the "Misconsing-" (Wisconsin), three leag-ues 
off, that emptied into the Mississippi. The g-uides took 
them safely to a portag-e twenty seven hundred paces 
long-, and helped to transport their canoes to the river 
and returned home. * * * 

"They sailed down the broad Wisconsin past alter- 
nate prairies and hillsides towards the g-reat river Missis- 
sippi, which they entered June 17, with a joy that could 
not be expressed. Here the two birch bark canoes raised 
their happy sails to unknown breezes and floated down 
the ocean stream, throug-h prairies and forests, often 
meeting- with the wild Illinois, Shawnees, Sioux and 
Chickasas (Marquette carrying- the cross before him), 
frequently stopping to smoke the calumet, always striv- 
ing- to convert these strange people to the worship of the 
true Manitou and the Catholic faith. 

"They reached the Now in-gon-e-na (Des Moines), 
where Marquette stayed six days and published to the 
Illinois the true God, their Creator. 

"Their great chief hung around Marquette the sacred 
calumet, which was the amulet of peace to all savage 
nations. 

"The little group proceeded onward. * * * 
"They passed the Missouri and in less than forty leagues 
floated past the Ohio to latitude 33", where near the 
west bank of the 'great river' stood the village of Mich- 



Mai-quette' s Narrative. 57 

' igamea. * * * * ^'\\^ next day ten. men, in 
a wooden canoe, escorted the discoverers ten leagues to 
the village of Akansea below the mouth of the Arkansas 
river (opposite the mouth of that river), the end of their 
vojag-e." The fear of the Spaniards, and other causes, 
prevented the continuance of their discoveries. * * 

* Marquette and Joliet left Akansea July 17, 1673, 
and ascended the Mississippi. 

"In latitude 38° 30' they entered the river Illinois. * 

* * A young- chief conducted the party by way of 
the Illinois to Lake Michigan. In September all were 
safe in (the mission of St. Francis Xavier) Green Bay. 

"Joliet returned to Quebec and announced the dis- 
cover}^ whilst Marquette remained to preach the gospel 
to the Indians. Being often sick with dysentery, and 
in feeble health, he remained at the Green Bay mission 
until October 25, 1674, when he sailed for Chicago. 
Reaching that river, after suffering from much sickness 
and delay's 'he was received as an angel from heaven.' 
He remained only a few months, imparting the gospel to 
the red men. May 18, 1675, his strength failing, he 
resolved to sail to the mission of St. Ignatius, Michili- 
mackinac, and recruit his health in that salubrious 
clime. 

"On the route he entered a little river in Michigan, 
and Bancroft says: 'Erecting an altar, he said Mass after 
the rites of the Catholic Church, then begging the men 
who conducted his canoe to leave him alone for half an 
hour : 

" ' In the darkling wood, 
Amidst cool and silence he knelt down, 
And offered to the mightiest, solemn thanks 
And supplication. 
" 'At the end of half an hour they went to seek him 
and he was no more. The good missionary, discoverer 



58 History of Mackinac. 

of a world, had fallen asleep on the margin of the stream 

that bears his name. Near its mouth the canoemen dug- 

his g"rave in the sand. Ever 

after the forest rang-ers, if 

in dang-er on Lake Michig-an, 

would invoke his name. The 

people of the west will build 

his monument.'" 

Pere Jacques Marquette 
was born, "in the city of 
Laon, in the Department of 
Aisne, France, in the year 
1637. * * * During- the 
War of the Revolution three 
of the Marquettes died here, 
in the French army. Of the 
valor of the family there is 
no doubt. * * * Thus at 
the ag-e of 38, May 19, 1675, 
in the height of his fame 
and g"lory, was the good 
priest taken away from earth 
to fill a brig-hter sphere in 
some celestial space. He was 
twenty-one years in the So- 
ciety of Jesus — twelve in 
France and nine in Amer- 

From .1 photograph of Statue iti Olil 
lea. Hall of Reprpsetitatives, C.ipiiol 

"God did not SUifer the at Washington, d. c. 

remains of Marquette to be forg-otten. Two years later 
on the anniversary of his death, the Kiskakon Indians 
(Alg-onquins), and a number of Iroquois repaired to the 
spot and disinterred his body. Cleaning- the bones, they 




Burial of Marquetie. 59 

placed them in a neat box of birch bark and conveyed 
them to Point St. Ignace. 

"The convoy consisted of thirty canoes. As they ap- 
proached the mission of St. Ignace, 'Missilimackinac,' 
Fathers Nouvel and Pierson met them and intoned the 
'De Profundis,' in the sight of all the people, before 
landing. The body remained in state, in the church, all 
day Whitsun-Monday, June 8, 1677, and the next day 
was deposited with funeral honors in the little vault 
under the church, where he now reposes, the 'guardian 
angel of the Ottawa Missions,' opposite the beautiful 
island of Mackinac, the home of the 'Great Manitou,' and 
of the 'spirits' whom the Indians delighted to worship. 

"May 4, 1877. The foundations of the old church 
were discovered on private claim No. 19, Mr. David 
Murray's property, at Point St. Ignace, and September 
3, 1877, a part of the remains of Marquette, in the 
vault, inclosed in the bark casket described. * * * 

"Now let the people of America and Europe unite 
without distinction of race, creed or sect, and build a 
shapely monument to the great and good missionary 
whose fame and Christian virtues we can only emulate, 
Mackinac, Mich., July 17, 1878." 

One thousand copies of the memoir were ordered 
printed and distributed by the monument association at 
their first meeting on Michilimackinac Island, August 8, 
1878. 

1673. The year that Marquette embarked on his voy- 
age of discovery, the French established a palisaded 
fort* at Pointe St. Ignace. It was situated on an eleva- 
tion in the rear of the church facing the bay, and was 
surrounded by a trench and stockade of cedar pickets. 
The outlines of the trench are visible to this day, and 

*The first Fort Michilimackinac. 



^0 History of Mackinac. 

helped to verify in 1878, the site of the old church and 
Marquette's grave, where the modern monument now 
stands. It was soon afterwards g-arrisoned by French 
regulars in addition to the militia force. That was the 
first Fort Michilimackinac and must be the one re-g-ar- 
risoned after the Jesuits burned the church, abandoned 
the mission in 1705 and returned to Quebec. 

Marquette, as before stated, passed the winter of 1670 
-71 on Mackinac Island (with Father Dablon, who was 
there in 1669), laying- the foundation of the St. Ig-nace 
mission (Rel. 1670-71, p. 144). 

In June, 1671, the Tionnontate Hurons arrived at St. 
Ig-nace from Chag-aouamig-ong" Bay, Lake Superior. 
That year the Manitoulin Ottawas procured a supply of 
arms and powder from Montreal. In the fall they started 
on the war path to fig-ht the Sioux ("Nadouis-Sioux, 
the enemies"). At St. Ig-nace the Hurons joined them, 
and at Green Bay the Potawottomies and Sacs and 
Foxes. Numbering- 1,000 braves they passed through 
*'Ouisconsin," to the St. Croix valley, and boldly at- 
tacked the Sioux. Repulsed, with great loss, and forced 
to retreat, in the snow, towards the straits, their flight 
was covered by the Hurons, who bravely defended the 
rear losing- many of their warriors. In the spring- of 
1673 Marquette states there were only 380 Huron souls 
and about sixty Ottawas had lately joined them. 

Accordingf to La Houtan, the Huron villag-e and pali- 
saded fort, constructed in 1672, was on the level ground 
around the middle of East Moran Bay, and continued 
there until that tribe, with other bands, about 1702, left 
for Detroit. He says, the "Ottawas fearing- trouble 
with the Hurons beg-an to fortify the neighboring- 
bluff," north and back of what is now, 1895, Cliffside 



SL Ignacc dii Michilimackitiac. 61 

and vicinity. There are remains there of an earth- 
work, supposed to be of Indian orig-in, and many of their 
spear-heads, flints, stone hammers and other relics, have 
been found thereabouts. On these premises at Cliffside, 
St. Ig-nace, there is, in an enclosure of seven acres, all 
the natural scenery (except the arched rock), that can 
be found on Mackinac Island. In the yard, near the 
dwelling-, there is a rock of the same formation as the 
island Sug-ar Loaf, but not quite as broad at the base. 
It is the Temple or Ghost rock — "Gebi-wau-beek" (or 
"Chete") — of the Indians, and in front there is a flat- 
tened projection — their altar — where the savag^es were 
wont to worship and perform sacrifices. The credulous 
natives say the spirits still ling^er there, but we have 
never been able to see them. 

After the departure of Marquette and Joliet from St. 
Ig-nace, Fathers Henry Nouvel and Phillip Pierson erect- 
ed a more substantial log- church and residence, pro- 
tected by a palisade enclosure, twenty-five feet hig-h. 

In the spring- of 1673 several bands, Ottawas and 
others, Alg-onquins, arrived and settled about Rabbit's 
Back, on the shores of Lake Huron. At that place, a 
little over two miles from Huron settlement and church, 
another church, roofed with bark, was built. In 1677 
there were 1,300 souls at that mission ("Algonquin 
Villag-e") the principal band being- Kishkakons. 

In 1677, or before, a new "Ottawa Villag-e" was 
started between Point La Barbe and Gros-Cap, by the 
arrival of other bands of Algonquins. Near them a log- 
chapel was built, the church of "St. Francis Borg-ia," 
Father Nouvel in charg-e. During- the winter of 1677-8, 
Father Enjalron lived, with Father Nouvel, in a rude 
wig-wam adjoining- the chapel. In 1699 there were 



62 Histo7'y of Mackinac. 

fifteen hundred (1,500) souls in that villag-e. All 
Indian villag-es about the straits, unless fortified, were 
g"enerally strung- along- the beach, in one or two lines, 
near or convenient to the water. That year Buisson de 
St. Come (Missionary) and Henry de Tonty visited 
them. They walked throug-h the portag-e to Gros-Cap, 
and sent their canoes around the point. St. Come was 
on a journey by way of Michilimackinac, to the Lower 
Mississippi, and mentions these facts in his journal. 

From the time Father Allouez passed throug-h the 
straits in 1699, en route to Green Bay (and visited 
Mackinac Island), the population of "Point Iroquois" 
(St. Ig-nace) was floating- and not permanent until the 
mission was established. From November 5 to 11, 16t9, 
Allouez was wind-bound on Little St. Martin's Island. 
He crossed, "St. Martin's Day," to the main land, by 
way of Big- St. Martin's Island, after the storm abated. 
Then he met some Indians and two 'Frenchmen, who 
tried to persuade him not to go to Green Bay so late in 
the season. (See Journal of Allouez, "Relations.") 
Father Dablon, Superior of the Jesuits, selected Point 
St. Ig-nace for a mission, by reason of its position and 
superior advantag-es for defense, productive soil, g-ame 
and fish. 

In the spring- of 1677 Father Nouvel took charg-e of 
the Ottawas and Father Pierson retained the Huron 
part of the mission of St. Ig-nace. Year after year 
there are the same movements of the bands of restless 
savag-es, and the annual trips to and fro of the French 
fur traders and Indians for the market at Montreal. 



Voyage of the Griffon. 



63 




THE "aRIFFON." 

The First Vessel on the Upper Lakes. Built by La Salle, 1679. 

.670, LA SALLE AND HENNEPIN.-VOYACE OF THE "GRIFFON." 
Durino- the expedition of Marquette and Joliet, both 

kept journals. Joliet's was lost by the upsetting- of his 
canoe in the St. Lawrence rapids, 1674, on his return to 
Quebec. The fame of their discovery fired the minds of 
the sanguine Frenchmen. Robert Cavalier de la Salle 
in command at Fort Frontenac ( "King-ston") obtained a 
concession from Count Frontenac, and with his approval 
another from the French King-, which allowed him the 
exclusive trade in buffalo skins and all other articles (ex- 
cepting- the fur trade of the lakes), in the territory to be 
discovered. 

Late in November he sailed from Fort Frontenac, in 
a ten-ton vessel, fully equipped, with Tonty and a corps 



64 Histoiy of Mackinac. 

of mechanics and marines, across Lake Krie*" to 
("Ong-hiara") Niag-ara Falls, Here they disembarked 
near the foot of the Falls and carried their mer- 
chandise, anchors, chains and provisions above the 
cataract, making- a portag-e of at least twelve miles. 
That took them to where the current was less rapid. 
The thick forests, rug-g-ed heig^hts, and deep snows 
caused this work to be delayed until the 22d of Janu- 
ary, 1679. During- the rest of the winter and early 
summer they built, at the mouth of "Cayug-a" creek, 
a sixty-ton vessel, the "Griffon." Here Father Louis 
Hennepin, who had been appointed acting- missionary 
of the expedition, and two other monks of the Francis- 
can order joined them. 

All being ready, whilst cannon were tired and the Te 
Deum chanted, on the 7th of August, 1679, the little 
craft unfurled her sails and swept boldly out on Lake 
Krie. There were thirty-four men all told on board, 
most of them fur- traders for the Mississippi valley. 

In three days they made the leng-th of the lake, over 
waters that had never before been sailed by so larg-e a 
ship, and rounded northward "between the verdant isles 
of the majestic Detroit." On either side of the strait 
was an ever-varying- panorama to delig-ht the eye. 
Groves of trees and intervening- prairies, forests of 
maple, beech, walnut, chestnut, oak and wild plum. 
with g-rape vines twining- through their branches. 
There were herds of wild deer, bear and beasts of un- 
known name ; flocks of wild turkej^s, quail, grouse and 
other land and water fowl that made Hennepin, enrap- 
tured, exclaim how "extraordinarily relishing." 

Detroit was then a wilderness, unsettled by white 
men. Up the river they sailed, and enter and cross the 



Voyage of the Grijfon. bS 

shallow St. Clair lake. And thence up throug-h the 
next strait, and into broad Lake Huron. 

Again they chant the Te Deum and offer thanks to 
Almig-hty God for their prosperity. Gentle breezes 
waft them onward until they near the boisterous 
"Sag-ina," when they encounter a fierce gale that 
threatened to swallow the little ship and crew. The 
fury of the tempest made even La Salle quake with fear 
and call on all to commend themselves to heaven. But 
the godless pilot anathematized his commander "for 
having brought him after the honor he had won on the 
ocean, to drown at last, ignominiously, in fresh water." 
They all clamored to the saints, and with La Salle and 
Hennepin, proclaimed "St. Anthony" their patron. 
The winds abated and the vessel "plunged on her way 
through foaming surges that still grew calmer as she 
advanced." 

Thunder Bay was passed, and soon to the left the 
island of "Bois Blanc" (white wood) came in view, and 
on the right (east) in the dim distance, could be out- 
lined the Manitoulins of Georgian Bay. Onward they 
sailed, and turning the foot of Bois Blanc, in front of 
them, to the westward, up looms a highland ahead, 
"sitting like an emerald gem in the clear, pellucid 
wave, is the rock- girt fairy isle of Michilimackinac." 
In the back ground, to the northward, is the Mission of 
St. Ignatius, nestling at the head of a small narrow bay, 
where they soon come to anchor near by. 

The following is Hennepin's:* "The 27th, 1679, in 
the morning, we continued our course northwest, with 
a southeast wind, which carried us the same day to 

*L/aluman says Hennepin was "Daring", vain, and determined, 
ambitious to reap the g"lory of discovery and not too scrupulous 
as to the means." 



66 History oj Alackinac. 

Michilimackinac,* where we anchored in a bay at six 
fathom water, upon a shiny white bottom. That 
ba}'^ is sheltered by the coast and a bank lying- from the 
southwest to the north; but it lies exposed to the south 
winds, which are very violent in that country. 

"Michilimackinac is a neck of land to the north of the 
mouth of the strait throug"h which the Lake of the Illi- 
nois discharg-es itself into the Lake Huron. That canal 
is about three leag'ues long- and one broad 

"We lay between two different nations of savag-es. 
Those who inhabit the Point of Michilimackinac are 
called Hurons; and the others, who are about three or 
four leag-ues more northward, are Ottawas. Those sav- 
ages were equally surprised to see a ship in their country; 
and the noise of our cannon, of which we made a g-eneral 
discharg-e, filled them with g-reat astonishment. We 
went to see the Ottawas, and celebrated mass in their 
habitation. M. La Salle was finely dressed, having- a 
scarlet cloak with a broad g-old lace, and most of his men, 
with their arms, attended him. The chief captains of 
that people received us with g-reat civilities, after their 
own way, and some of them came on board with us to see 
our ship, which rode all that while in the bay or creek I 
have spoken of. It was a diverting' prospect to see, every 
day, above six score canoes about it, and savag-es staring- 
and admiring that fine wooden canoe, as they called it. 
They brought us abundance of whitings, and some trouts 
of fifty or sixty pound weight. 

"We went the next day to pay a visit to the Hurons, 
who inhabit a rising ground on a neck of land over 
against Michilimackinac. Their villages are fortified 
with palisades of twenty-five feet high, and always situ- 
ated upon eminences or hills. They received us with 

*Now St. Igf-nace. 



Tlie Gj'iffon at M ichilirnackinac. 67 

more respect than the Ottawas; for they made a triple 
discharge of all the small guns they had, having learned 
from some Europeans that it is the greatest civility 
among us. However, they took such a jealousy to our 
ship, as we understood since, they endeavored to make 
our expedition odious to all the nations about them. 

"The Hurons and Ottawas are in confederacy together 
against the Iroquois, their common enemy. They sow 
Indian corn, which is their ordinary food; for they have 
nothing else to live upon, except some fish they take in 
the lakes. They boil it with their sagamittee, which is 
a kind of a broth made with water and the flour of the 
corn, which they beat in a mortar made of the trunk of a 
tree, which they make hollow with fire." 

"La Salle remained at Mackinac until the second day 
September, when he set sail for Green Bay. At this 
point, contrary to orders, he collected a cargo of furs, 
with which he dispatched tne Griffo7i to Niagara, while 
he himself, with a part of his men, repaired in bark 
canoes to the head of Lake Michigan. Here he anxious- 
ly awaited the return of his little vessel; but, alas! he 
waited in vain. No tidings ever reached him of the ill- 
fated bark; and to this day none can tell whether she was 
swallowed in the depths of the lake, destroyed by Indians, 
or made the prize of traitors. 

"The loss of the Griffon was a severe stroke upon La 
Salle; yet he was not discouraged. With inflexible en- 
ergy, he pursued his course. From Lake Michigan he 
proceeded into the country of the Illinois, where he 
wintered. Early in the following spring he dispatched 
Hennepin to discover the sources of the Mississippi,* 

*Hennepin ascended the river to St. Anthony's Falls in the 
spring- of 1680. He wintered 1680-81 at St. Ig-nace with Sieur du 
Lhut(Duluth). 



68 History of Mackinac. 

while lie himself returned to Canada for new supplies, 
made necessary by the loss of the Griffon. In 1681, he 
returned; and in 1682, having- constructed a vessel of a 
size suitable for the purpose, he descended the Missis- 
sippi to the Gulf. 

"Having" completed the exploration of the Great River, 
his next step was to plant colonies along- its banks; for 
which purpose he labored, but with only partial success, 
until 1687, when he was assassinated by one of his own 
men." 

Taking- the testimony of Holmes's "American Annals," 
this fort or trading-post was first established in 1673. 
Of the early history of this place, subsequent to La Salle's 
visit, we have only information gathered from the notices 
and writing-s of travelers and others. 

In 1688, Baron La Hontan, an officer of rare accom- 
plishments, visited this point, and from him we have 
the following: 

"At last, finding- that my provisions were almost out, 
I resolved to g-o to Michilimackinac, to buy up corn from 

the Hurons and Ottawas I arrived at this place on 

the 18th of April, and my uneasiness and trouble took 
date from the day of my arrival; for I found the Indian 
corn so scarce, by reason of the preceding- bad harvests, 
that I despaired of finding half so much as I wanted. 
But, after all, I am hopeful that two villag-es will fur- 
nish me with almost as much as I have occasion for. 
Mr. Cavalier arrived here, May 6th, being accompanied 
with his nephew. Father Anastase the Recollect, a pilot, 
one of the savages, and some few Frenchmen, which 
made a sort of a party-colored retinue. These French- 
men were some of those that Mr. de la Salle had con- 
ducted upon the discovery of the Mississippi. They gave 



L,a Hojitan at Michilhnackinac. 69 

out that they are sent to Canada, in order to g-o to 
France, with some dispatches from Mr. de la Salle to 
the King-; but we suspect that he is dead, because he 
does not return along- with them. I shall not spend time 
in taking notice of their great journey overland; which, 
by the account they gave, cannot be less than eight hun- 
dred leagues. 

"Michilimackinac, the place I am now in, is certainly 
a place of great importance. It lies in the latitude of 
forty-five degrees and thirty minutes. It is not above 
half a leag-ue distant from the Illinese Lake, an account 
of which, and, indeed, of all the other lakes, you may ex- 
pect elsewhere. Here the Hurons and Ottawas have, 
each of them, a villag-e; the one being severed from the 
other by a single palisade; but the Ottawas are beginning" 
to build a fort upon a hill that stands ten or twelve hun- 
dred paces off. This precaution they were prompted to 
by the murder of a certain Huron, called Sandaouires, 
who was assassinated in the Saginaw River by four 
young- Ottawas. In this place the Jesuits have a little 
house or college, adjoining to a sort of a church, and in- 
closed with poles that separate it from the villag-e of the 
Hurons. These good fathers lavish away all their di- 
vinity and patience, to no purpose, in converting such 
ignorant infidels; for all the length they can bring them 
to, is, that oftentimes they will desire baptism for their 
dying children, and some few superannuated persons con- 
sent to receive the sacrament of baptism when they find 
themselves at the point of death. The Courejirs de Bois 
have but a very small settlement here; though at the 
same time it is not inconsiderable, as being the staple of 
all the goods that they truck with the south and the west 
savages; for they cannot avoid passing this way, when 



70 History of Mackinac. 

they g-o to the seats of the Illinese and the Oumamis, or 
to the Bay des Puans, and to the River of Mississippi. 
The skins, which they import from these different places, 
must lie here some time before they are transported to the 
colony. Michiliraackinac is situated very advantage- 
ously; for the Iroquese dare not venture, with their sorry 
canoes, to cross the strait of the Illinese Lake, which is 
two leagues over; besides that the Lake of the Hurons is 
too rough for such slender boats; and as they can not 
come to it by water, so they can not approach to it by 
land, by reason of the marshes, fens, and little rivers, 
which it would be very difficult to cross; not to mention 
that the strait of the Illinese Lake lies still in their way." 

La Hontan afterwards made a map showing the French 
and Indian villages, and the Jesuit establishment as they 
were in 1688. 

In 1695, M. de la Motte Cadillac, who founded Detroit, 
commanded at this post. He thus describes the place: 

"It is very important that you should know, in case 
you are not already informed, that this village is one of 
the largest in all Canada. There is a fine fort of pickets, 
and sixty houses that form a street in a straight line. 
There is a garrison of well-disciplined, chosen soldiers, 
consisting of about two hundred men, the best formed 
and most athletic to be found in this New World; besides 
many other persons v/ho are residents here during two or 
three months in the year. . . . The houses are ar- 
ranged along the shore of this great Lake Huron, and 
fish and smoked meat constitute the principal food of 
the inhabitants. 

"The villages of the savages, in which there are sir 
or seven thousand souls, are about a pistol-shot distant 
from ours. All the lands are cleared for about three 



M. de la Motte Cadillac at Marquette. 71 

leag-ues around their villag-e, and perfectly well culti- 
vated. They produce a sufficient quantity of Indian 
corn for the use of both the French and savage inhabit- 
ants." 

"In 1699, Cadillac, perceiving- the importance of a fort 
on the Detroit, repaired to France to present the subject 
to the consideration of Count Pontchartrain, the Colonial 
Minister. He was favorably received, and authorized to 
establish the proposed fort at the earliest date possible. 
This he accomplished in 1701. 

"With the exception of here and there a Jesuit mission- 
ary and a few half-savag-e coureurs de hois, the region 
around Mackinac was now forsaken by the French. 

"A dispute soon arose between Cadillac and the Jesuits, 
the former insisting upon a concentration of French in- 
terests in the west, at Detroit, the latter urging the 
French Government to re-establish Mackinac. The 
Jesuits did all in their power to prevent the Indians re- 
moving to Detroit, while Cadillac held out every induce- 
ment to prevail upon them to desert their villages and 
settle in the vicinity of the new fort, and so far succeed- 
ed that, in 1705, as we have seen, the Jesuits became 
discouraged, burned down their college and chapel, and 
returned to Quebec. But, alarmed at this step, the Gov- 
ernor soon prevailed upon Father James Marest to re- 
turn; and shortly after the Ottawas, who were becoming 
dissatisfied at Detroit, began to move back to Mackinac. 

"Father Marest now did all in his power to prevail up- 
on the French Government to send M. Louvigny, a for- 
mer commander, with a few soldiers, to re-establish the 
fort, but did not succeed until 1714, when the long wish- 
ed for garrison and commander arrived, giving new life 
to the settlement." 



72 History of Mackinac. 

In 1721 Father Charlevoix was at Michilitnackinac and 
thus writes of it: 

"I arrived the twenty-eig-hth (June) at this post, 
which is much declined since M. de la Motte Cadillac 
drew to Detroit the g-reater part of the savag-es who were 
settled here, and especially the Hurons. Several Ottawas 
have followed them; others have dispersed themselves in 
the isles of Castor.* There is only here a middling- vil- 
lag-e, where there is still a g-reat trade for peltry, because 
it is the passag"e or the rendezvous of many of the savagfe 
nations. The fortf is preserved and the house of the 
missionaries, who are not much employed at present, 
having- never found much docility among the Ottawas; 
but the court thinks their presence necessary, in a place 
where one must often treat with our allies, to exercise 
their ministry among- the French, who come hither in 
g-reat numbers. I have been assured that since the set- 
tlement of Detroit and the dispersion of the savag-es oc- 
casioned thereby, many nations of the North, who used 
to bring- their peltries hither, have taken the route of 
Hudson's Bay, b}^ the river Bourbon, and g-o there to 
trade with the Eng-lish; but M. de la Motte could by no 
means foresee this inconvenience, since we were then in 
possession of Hudson's Bay. 

"The situation at Michilimackinac is very advantag-e- 
ous for trade. This post is between three g-reat lakes. 
Lake Michig-an, which is three hundred leagues in com. 
pass, without mentioning- the g-reat bay that comes into 
it; Lake Huron, which is three hundred and fifty leag-ues 
in circumference, and which is triang-ular; and the Upper 
Lake, which is five hundred leagues." 

Charlevoix, at the time of this visit, 1721, apparently 



*Beaver Islands. 

f St. Ignace du Michilimackinac. 



M. de la Motte Cadillac at Michilimackinac. 73 
describes the post and settlement of North Michilimack- 
inac (St. Ignace), as he says: "The fort is preserved, 
and the house of the missionaries," but does not allude 
to the church, as that was burned in 1705. The move- 
ment to South Michilimackinac must have been g-radual 
up to 1760, when the Province of Michilimackinac was 
transferred to the Eng-lish. 

In 1681 La Salle, on his second voyag-e to the Mississip- 
pi, passes by way of St. Ig-nace. Then M. de Villeray 
was commandant at Fort Michilimackinac. 

On account of Iroquois invasions the fur trade greatly 
declined in 1683. 

1684. M. de la Durantaye is commanding- at "Missili- 
mackinac." He leads French and Indian forces, allied 
with Ottawas, in LaBarre's disastrous attack on the Iro- 
quois. 

In 1688 Machilmackinac is the commercial and mili- 
tary center of the northwest. That year Nicolas Perrot 
arrived and persuaded the Ottawas and Fox tribe (of 
Green Bay) to make peace. Perrot rescued the daug-hter 
of a Chippewa chief, whom the Foxes intended to burn 
at the stake and returned her to her father. 

1686. Many of the Indian bands favor the English 
and are inclined to unite with them and the Iroquois. 
The French had only a small force in the province of 
Michilimackinac, at that time, and having- met with 
some reverses, the Indians, quick to discern, thoug-ht the 
Eng-lish were better able to protect and provide for them. 
Their ideas of prowess was favored by the arrival of mer- 
chants and traders, from the province of New York, to 
buy furs, and whatever they had for sale. They were 
liberal, paid large prices for pelts, and supplied the 
tribes with liquor. All this was done with the knowl- 
edge, and connivance of Gov. Dougan, at Albany. A 



74 History of Mackinac. 

few extracts from Doc. Hist, of New York will partly 
show the situation. 

"M. DE MEULLES TO THE MINISTER." 
"My Lord * * * ("Paris Doc. ii"). "What 
Indians there were evidenced the best disposition to 
fig-ht the Iroquois to the death. Sieur de la Durantaye 
who broug-ht the last six hundred men from Missili- 
makinak has informed us that he learned from a Miami 
chief that more than one thousand Illinois were coming 
to our aid on learning that we were about to fight the 
Iroquois, to such a degree are they their irreconcilable 
enemies." 

* * * "Quebec, the 10th 8ber, 1684." (Vol. 
1, pp. 120, 127.) "Demeulles." 

"GOV. DOUGAN'S REPORT." 

"To the committee of trade on the province of New 
York, Dated the 22nd February, 1687." 
("Lond. Doc. v.") 

"My Lords" * * * 

"The great difference between us is about the beaver 
trade and in truth they have the advantag-e of us in it 
@ that by noe other meanes than by their industry in 
making discoveries in the country before us. "Before 
my coming hither noe man of my Government ever went 
beyond the Sinicaes country. Last year some of our 
people went a trading among the farr Indians called the 
Ottowais inhabiting about three months journey to the 
West («) W. N. W. of Albany from whence they brought 
a g"ood many Beavers. They found their people more 
inclined to trade with them than the French the French 
not being- able to protect them from the arms of our 
Indians, with whom they have had a continued war. 



Extracts — Documentary History of New l^ork. 75 

Soe that our Indians broug"ht away this very last year, 
a great many prisoners. 

"I^ast week I sent some of our Indians to New York 
where when they came I obtained a promise from them 
that some of themselves would goe along" with such of 
our people as go from Albany and Esopus to these far 
nations @ carry with them the captives they have 
prisoners in order to the restoring them to their liberty 
@ bury their hatchetts with those of thier enemys by 
which means a path may be opened for those farr 
Indians to come with safety to trade at Albany, and our 
people goe thither without any let or disturbance." 
(Vol. 1, pp. 156-7.) * * * 

"It will be very necessary for us to encourage our 
young men to go a Beaver Hunting as the French doe. 
(p. 158). I send a map by Mr. Spragg whereby your 
Lords may see the several Governmts &c how they 
lye where the Beaver hunting is @ where it will be 
necessary to erect our country Forts for the securing of 
beaver trade @ keeping the Indians in community with 
us. 

"Alsoe it points out where theres a great river dis- 
covered by one Lassal a Frenchman from Canada who 
thereupon went into France @ and as its reported 
brought two or three vessels with people to settle there 
which (if true) will prove not only very inconvenient to 
us but to the Spanish alsoe (the river running all along 
from our lakes by the back of Virginia (§) Carolina into 
the Bay Mexico) («) its beleeved Nova Mexico can not 
bee far from the mountains adjoining to it that place 
being in 36d North Latitude if your Lop^ thought it fit 
I could send a sloop or two from this place to discover 



76 History of Mackinac. 

that river." (p. 158). * * * "Theo. Doug-au." 

(p. 187). 

"Memoirs Concerning- The Present State ot Canada. 
And The Measures That May Be Adopted For The 
Security Of The Country, 12 November 1685 (Extract) 
(Paris Doc. iii)" (p. 196). 

"The most to be feared is the Iroquois who are the 
most powerful in consequence of the facility with which 
they obtain arms from the English, and the number of 
slaves they make daily among- their neig-hbors by carry- 
ing- away at an early ag-e their children, whom they 
adopt; this is the only means of their increase, for this 
their debaucheries of Brandy which lead them into 
frig-htful disorders, the few children their women raise 
could not of themselves sustain them, if they did not 
make prisoners." (p. 196). * * * 

"The importance of the post to be occupied on Lake 
Erie is easily preceived, since we can easily g-o in vessels 
from the lake to Missilimakina which would be a g-reat 
facility for the trade of the country, to keep the Out- 
aouacs in check and in obedience to the King-; besides, 
we should have the means of reaching- throug-h this lake 
to Illinois, and surmount by this communication with 
ships many of the difficulties experienced in the rivers 
in consequence of the number of portag-es. Being- mas- 
ters of these two lakes and cruizing then with our 
vessels, the English would lose the Beaver trade in that 
quarter, of which they have abundance." 

"A durable peace with the Iroquois Indians would be 
more advantageous to the colony than prosecuting a 
war;" * * * (p. 198). "Chevalier de Tonty" 
is commanding the fort in behalf of "M. de Lasalle," 
who has great influence with the Illinois. "M. de 



Extracts — Documentary History of New I'ork. 77 

Ladurantaye" is sent to Lake Superior under orders 
from "M. de Labarre" and to "Sieur Duluth," who is at 
a great distance, beyond reach, so that neither can have 
news before next year, in July, and, many of their best 
men were with the Outaouacs. 

"It is, also, necessary to reconcile six tribes of our 
allie's, that are at war with each other, before making" 
use of them. (p. 199). "I sent presents and instruc- 
tions to M. Ladurataye to collect our" (p. 200) "French 
and put himself at their head, in order to support his 
reasoning- and to have more authority to reconcile them 
in concert with Father Angeblau Jesuit Missionary at 
Missilimakina." * * * (p. 201.) However, 
arrangements are not easily made "to secure punctual- 
ity," "since from the Illinois country there are four 
hundred leagues;" and from the Outaouacs and 
Savag-es of Lake Superior, three hundred leagues, and 
from Quebec nearly two hundred, to the said place of 
Niagara." * . * * * (p. 202.) 



"M. DE. DENONVILLE TO THE MINISTER. S MAY, i686." 
(Paris Doc. iii.) 

"I learn that the news that I had the honor to send 
you of the appearance on Lakes Ontario and Erie of 
English Canoes accompanied by French Deserters on 
their way to the Outaouacs is true. There are ten of 
them loaded with merchandize. Therefore, my Lord, I 
sent orders to Missilinakina, to Catarokony and other 
places where we had Frenchmen, to run and seize 
them." (p. 203.) * * * 

"In regard, my Lord, as of primary importance the 
prohibition of this trade with the English, who 
without doubt, would entirely ruin ours by the cheaper 



78 History of Mackinac. 

barg^ains they could g^ive the Indians and by attracting' 
to them the Frenchmen of our Colony who are accus- 
tomed to g"o into the woods." * * * "j am 
pursuaded that the Iroquois are very anxious for peace." 

* * * "What I should consider most effectual 
to accomplish this would be the establishment of a rig-ht 
g-ood fort at Niag-ara." * * * 

"M. DE. DENONVILLE TO GOV. DOUGAN." 

"Paris Doc. iii, p. 211." 
* * * (Ext) "You are not ignorant of the 

expedition of your merchants against Michilimaquina." 

****** 

M. De Denonville's Memoir, (p. 213.) 

On the Present State of Affairs In Canada And The 
Necessity Of Making- War Next Year On The Iroquois. 
(Paris Doc. iii.) 

Quebec the 8th O'ber. 1686. 

(Extract) "I annex to this Memoir, the duplicate of 
the letter of June last in which I advised My lord of the 
expedition of the Iroquois agfainst our allies the Hurons 
and Ottawas of Missilimakina in the Sag-uinau. I have 
learned since that the Eng-lish had more to do with that 
expedition than even the Iroquois who struck the blow. 
Their intrig-ues. My lord, reach a point that without 
doubt it would be much better that they should have re- 
course to open acts of hostility by firing- our settlements, 
than to do what they are doing- throug-h the Iroquois for 
our destruction." (p. 213) * * * 

(p. 214.) 

* * * "Mr. Doug-an, notwithstanding- works se- 
cretly by all the artifices in the world to debauch our 
Frenchmen and Indians. Col. Doug-an's letters will suf- 
ficientlv explain his pretensions which embrace nc less 



Extracts — Documentary History of New Tork. 79 

than from the Lakes inclusive to the South Sea. Mis- 
silimackinac belong-s to them. They have taken its 
elevation. They have been there treating- v^ith our Out- 
awas and Huron Indians, who received them there very 
well on account of the excellent trade they made there in 
selling" their g^oods for beaver which they purchase much 
dearer than we. Unfortunately we had at the time 
but very few French at Missilimackinac M. de la Duran- 
taye on arriving- there would pursue the Eng-lish to 
plunder them; the Hurons ran to escort them after say- 
ing many bad thing's of us. M. de la Durantaye did not 
overtake the Eng-lish who met on their road the Senecas 
g-oing- to meet them to escort them throug-h Lakes Erie 
and Ontario until they were beyond the risk of being- 
attacked by us." 

"Thus you see, My Lord, that the Senecas and the 

English understood each other charmingly." (p. 214-15.) 

****** 

(p. 220) "The letters I wrote to Sieurs du Lhu and 
de la Durantaye * * * ^jn inform you of my 
orders to them to fortify the two passes leading to Mich- 
ilimaquina. Sieur du Lhu is at the Detroit of Lake 
Erie, and Sieur de la Durantaye at that of the portage of 
Toronto. These two ports will block the passage 
against the English if they undertake to go again to 
Michilimaquina, and will serve as retreats to the Savages 
our allies, either while hunting or marching against the 
Iroquois." * ^ * 

(p. 224) M. de la Durantaye is collecting people to 
entrench himself at Michilimaquina and to occupy the 
other pass which the English may take by Toronto 
the other entrance to Lake Huron." * * * 

"The M. deDenonville." 



80 Histo7'y of Mackinac. 

"M. DE DENONVILLE TO THE MINISTER." 

(Paris Doc. iii). 

Quebec 16th Nov. 1686. 
"Sincie my letters were written. * * * a man 
whom I sent to Nauat * * * reports to me 
that the said Colonel" (Doug-an) "has dispatched fifty 
citizens of Orang-e and Monat among- whom are some 
Frenchmen, to winter with the Senecas, where they will 
depart, at the close of the winter, under the escort of the 
Senecas for Michilimaquina, carrying- with them the Hu- 
ron prisoners to restore them on the post of the English 
Governor, who desires to prevail on the Outaouas, by the 
service which he renders them, to abandon our alliance 
in order to attach themselves to the English. They carry 
an abundance of merchandise thither to to furnish it at a 
much lower rate than we. (p. 224-5.) * * * 

"M. DE DENONVILLE TO GOV. DUGAN. (P. 26I.) 

(Paris Doc. iii; London Doc. v.) 

"Aug. 22, 1687." 
* * * ' Nevertheless, Sir, whilst you were ex- 
pressing- these civilities to me you were g-iving orders 
and sending passes to dispatch canoes to trade at Missil- 
imaquina where an Englishman had never set his foot 
and where we, the French, are established more than 
sixty years." * * * 

"What have you not done, Sir, to prevent the Senecas 
surrendering to me the Outouacs and Huron prisoners of 
Missilimaquina whom they treacherously captured last 
year." * * 



Extracts — Docutnentary History of Nezv Tork. 81 

"GOV. DUGAN TO M. DE DENONVILLE. 
(Par. Doc. iii; Lond. Doc. V.) 

8th Sept. 1687." (p. 266.) 
"Sir — Yours of the 2lst of Aug-ust last I have re- 
ceived." 
* * * 

(p. 268.) "As for Major McGreg-orie and those others 
you took prisoners they had no passe from me to go to 
Missilimaquine butt a pass to go to the Ottowawas, 
where I thought it mig-ht be as free for us to trade as 
you." * * * 

"Further you blame me for hindering- the Sinakees de- 
livering- up the Ottawawas prisoners to you, this I did 
■with good reason for what pretense could you have to make 
your applications to them and not to me. Nevertheless 
I ordered Major McGreg-ory to carry them to the Ottaw- 
aways and if your claim be only to Missilimquina what 
cause had you to hinder Mag-regory to go to the Ottawa- 
was." * * * 

"Project of the Chevallier De Callieres (p. 285), Gov- 
ernor of Montreal and Commanding The Troops and 
Militia of Canada," &c. 

"January, 1689." ("Paris. Doc. iv.") 

"TO MONSEIGNEUR, THE MARQUIS OF SEIGNELAY." 

* * * * * 

"Chevalier Anders" (Governor General of New Eng- 
land and New York) "is a protestant as well as the 
whole English Colony so that there is no reason to hope 
that he will remain faithful to the King of England 
(James ii) and we must expect that he will not only urge 
the Iroquois to continue the war against us but that he will 
even add Englishmen to them to lead them and seize the 



82 History of Mackinac. 

posts of Niag-ara, Michilimakinak and others proper to ren- 
der him master of the Indians, our allies, according- to the 
project they have long- since formed, and which they ber' 
g-an to execute when we declared war ag-ainst the Iro- 
quois and when we captured 70 Englishmen who were 
g-oing to take possession in Michilimakinak one of the 
most important posts of Canada; our" (p. 286) "Entrepot 
for the Fur Trade and the residence of the Superior of 
the Rev. Jesuit Fathers, Missionaries among our Sav- 
ages, and which belong-s incontestably to us." 

"Frequent disputes were caused by the Duke of York 
claiming, through his governors of the Province of New 
York, (Wm. Tryon, and others,) that his province over- 
lapped that of New France, and the source of said claims. 
On page 740 Doc. Hist, of New York, Gov. Tryon's Re- 
port: "Question No. 2. What are the reputed Bound- 
aries, and are any parts disputed and by whom? Answer. 
The Boundaries of the Province of New York are derived 
from Two Sources" Grants from King Charles, 2nd, to 
liis brother James Duke of York, & "Secondly, from the 
Submission and Subjection of the Five Nations of Indi- 
ans to the Crown of England." ^j^ ^j^ =^ 

(p. 743.) "On the North A line from a point on the 
East bank of Lake Huron in the Latitude of Forty Five 
East to the River St. Lawrence, or the South Boundary 
Line of Quebec;" The Iroquois and Senecas 
come to Georgin Bay and Michilimackinac to hunt 
beaver, and, in connection therewith, would fight the 
Algonquin tribes of this vicinity, burn their villages, 
and carry off their women and children as captives, and, 
*'vice versa." 

The French and English (and the Spanish) were rivals 
in Europe and North America, so that the early history 



Michilimackiiiac, Boundaries, Etc. 83 

of this reg"ion is intimately connected, and often result- 
ant, with the chang-es caused by the wars intrig-ues, and 
diplomacy of European Courts. Those nations had their 
Indian allies, and the white -g-overnors (vandals,) who 
represented them, in America were, g-enerally the prime 
factors that lead to successive wars between the 
savages and the frequent masacres of European settlers 
who were unfortunate enough to be on the side of an op- 
posing power. It was, truly, the survival of the fittest, 
and in the march of conquest the poor Indian is sure to 
be exterminated. ^ 

From 1714 to 1760, there is little, recorded history of the 
province, of Michilimackinac, and of the region about 

the straits of ttfe same name. The establishment of the 

— / 

Province 6f Detroit, and the withdrawal of the troops to 
the town of Detroit, on that strait, where many of the 
Indians followed, caused a diversion of trade, and, conse- 
quent decline of supremacy. 

With the victory of the English on the Plains of 
Abraham, before Quebec, September 12th and 13th, 1759, 
the successful general Wolf fell, and the defeated gener- 
al Montcalm was, also, killed. The, subsequent, sur- 
render of Montreal and Canada, with all its dependencies, 
on the 8th of September, 1760, by the Marquis de Vau- 
dreuil, to the British Crown, was the opening wedge to 
a change in history. The province of Michilimackinac 
(in Canada), was transferred to Britain, and the French 
domain extinguished forever. But the French habitants 
remained and the effects of their civil institutions and 
religion are evident to this day. 



84 History of Mackinac. 

PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 

The change of jurisdiction from French to the 
English rule was not agreeable to the Indians of the 
Lakes. They were suspicious of the English, who 
generally treated them with contempt, and looked upon 
them more in the light of slaves, subservient to their 
wishes, than as subjects entitled to their protection. 
They still clung to the French with affection and 
regard, and looked to them for protection and advice. 
The Indian and French would lodge in the same wig- 
wam, or cabin, on intimate terms. A French voyageur, 
or coureur du bois, usually married a squaw (Indian 
fashion), adapted himself to the social condition and 
mode of life of her tribe, and became as one of them. 
They claimed each other as brothers, and in the speech 
of a Chippewa chief: "They called us children, and we 
found them fathers." 

The English were not liberal in their dealings with 
the Indians, took advantage of them in trade, and often 
allowed them to suffer when they needed supplies. 
The French gave them clothing, ammunition and guns; 
also food, when required. When an Indian visited an 
English post he was looked upon and treated as an 
enemy or spy, received coldly and often driven away. 
English settlers had appropriated some of the best 
Indian lands, and the French told them their hunting 
grounds would soon follow. The French knew the 
country was forever lost to them, but, in the spirit of 
revenge, they inflamed the minds of the Indians with 
wild tales, and informed them a chain of posts were 
being established to pen them in between the settle- 
ments and root them out of the land. These stories 



Pontiac's Conspiracy 85 

they were only too willing to believe, on account of 
their hatred of the English. 

The French declared that the King- of France had 
fallen asleep, and that while he slumbered the Kng-lish 
had seized Canada; but now he was awake again, and 
his armies were advancing by way of the St. Lawrence 
and the Mississippi to drive the usurpers from the 
country of his red children. Lieut. Edward Jenks, 
commanding Fort Ouatanon, on the Wabash, wrote to 
Maj. Gladwin, commanding Detroit, as follows: "28 
March, 1763. The Canadians here are continually tell- 
ing lies to the Indians. * * * One La Pointe 
told the Indians a few days ago that we should be all 
prisoners in a short time (showing when the corn was 
about a foot high) , and that there was a great army to 
come from the Mississippi, and that they were to have a 
great number of Indians with them; therefore advised 
them not to help us. That they would soon take 
Detroit and these small posts, and then they would take 
Quebec, Montreal, &c., and go into our country. This, 
I am informed, they tell them from one end of the year 
to the other." He adds: "Indians would rather give 
six bear skins for a blanket to a Frenchman than three 
to an Englishman." (Parkman's Pontiac, p. 178. ) The 
passions of the Indians, wrought to a high pitch by 
their real and imaginary wrongs, and exasperated by 
French statements, were further inflamed in another 
way. 

There appeared among the Delawares a prophet who 
claimed to be a messenger from the Great Spirit. He 
urged them to lay aside the clothing and arms received 
from the white man and return to their savage life. By 
doing this, and observing his precepts, they would soon 



86 History of Mackinac. 

be restored to their former greatness and power, and 
drive the white man from their territory. He had 
many followers, and his fame spread to the tribes on 
the northern lakes. 

The Indians were being- aroused. Belts of wampum 
were sent by the Six Nations to all the Indians from 
Nova Scotia to Illinois, and through the Massagues to 
the Northern Nations. 

Capt. Campbell, commanding Detroit in 1761, dis- 
covered a plot to destroy him and his garrison, and 
nipped it in the bud; also another design in the summer 
of 1762 was frustrated. These plots were the fore- 
runners of a coming tempest. 

Early in 1763, when the Indians learned that the 
French King had ceded all their country to the King of 
England, without their consent, their indignation knew 
no bounds. Pontiac, the principal chief of the Ottawas 
(and of the band at Detroit), and one of them, but born 
of an Ojibwa (Chippewa) mother went from tribe to 
tribe, or sent his emissaries; "-and within a few weeks 
a plot was matured, such as was never before or since 
conceived or executed by a North American Indian. It 
was determined to attack all the English forts upon the 
same day; then, having destroyed their garrisons to 
turn upon the defenseless frontier and ravage and lay 
waste their settlements until, as many of the Indians 
fondly believed, the English should all be driven into 
the sea, and the country restored to its primitive 
owners." 

FORT MICHILIMACKINAC. 

Before the war cloud burst, in the spring of 1763, sev- 
eral English traders went with canoes to Michiliraacki- 
nac; some followed the Ottawa route, and others the 



Fo7-t Michilimackinac. 87 

lower strait ("Detroit") by way of the lakes. Let us 
follow one of these adventurers by the lake route. Leav- 
ing- Lake Erie he enters the "Detroit," and passing" the 
settlement and fort of the same name, he soon enters Lake 
St. Clair and crosses that water. His voyag^eurs urge 
their bark canoes against the current of the long^er arm 
of the strait (St. Clair) above until they reach the outlet 
of Lake Huron. Now, they enter that, apparently, 
boundless fresh water ocean, following the eastern shore 
they paddle northward over the bay of "Sagina," and. 
onward still. In two or three week-s, if his Canadians 
labor well, and there is no accident, the trader ap- 
proaches the end of his voyage. Near the head of the 
lake westward, on the right, he passes the extensive 
island of Bois Blanc, and sees nearly in front the "Pe- 
quod-e-nouze," of the Indians, beautiful Michilimackinac, 
rising with its white limestone cliffs and green foliage 
from the broad, clear waters. He does not steer towards 
it, for at that time the Indians were its only tenants, 
but keeps along- the main shore to the left, while his 
voyageurs raise the Canadian boat song and chorus. 
"Doubling a point he sees before him the red flag of 
England swelling lazily in the wind, and the palisades 
and wooden bastions of Fort Michilimackinac* standing 
close upon the margin of the lake. On the beach canoes 
were drawn up, and Canadians and Indians were idly 
lounging. A little beyond the fort is a cluster of white 
Canadian houses, roofed with bark, and protected with 
fences of strong round pickets. 

"The trader enters at the gate and sees before him an. 
extensive square area, surrounded by high palisades. 
Numerous houses, barracks and other buildings, form a 
smaller square within, and in the vacant space which 

*On the south shore, the second fort of that name. 



88 History of Mackinac. 

they inclose appear the red uniforms of British sol- 
diers, the gray coats of Canadians, and the gaudy Indian 
blankets, mingled in picturesque confusion, while a mul- 
titude of squaws with children of every hue, stroll rest- 
lessly about the place. Such was Fort Michilimackinac 
in 1763." (Parkman.) 

He adds — "This description is drawn from traditional 
accounts aided by a personal examination of the spot, 
where the stumps of the pickets and the foundations of 
the houses may still be traced." Also, "Its name, which, 
in the Algonquin tongue, siginifies the Great Turtle, 
was first, from a fancied resemblance, applied to the 
neighboring island, and then to the fort." 

Michilimackinac though buried in the wilderness was 
of no recent origin. The island was known to Cham- 
plain before 1612, and the straits were afterwards fre- 
quently passed by French traders with Indian convoys. 
About 1669 the island of Michilimackinac, so famous for 
position and commanding prominence, gave name to an 
extensve province of which it was the emporium and cap- 
ital, and probably the first settled place in Michigan. It 
was the residence of Dablon, Superior of the Jesuits, 
who there, with Marquette, in 1670, laid the foundation 
of the mission of St. Ignace du Michilimackinac estab- 
lished in 1671. That was on ths north shore, and where 
the first Fort Michilimackinac was, afterwards, con- 
structed, in 1673. There were two other forts in the 
northern region besides Michilimackinac, Green Bay and 
Sault Ste. Marie. "Both were founded at an early pe- 
riod, and both presented the same characteristic features 
— mission house, a fort and a cluster of Canadian dwel- 
lings. They had been originally garrisoned by small 
parties of militia, who, bringing their families with 



1 



Pontiac's Conspiracy. 89 

them, settled on the spot and were the founders of those 
little colonies. i 

Michilimackinac, much the larg^est of the three, con- 
tained thirty families within the palisades of the fort, 
and about as many more without. Besides its military 
value it was important as a center of the fur trade; for it 
was here that the traders eng-ag^ed their men and sent 
out their g-oods in canoes under the charg-e of subordin- 
ates, to the more distant reg-ions of the Mississippi and 
the Northwest. 

The greater part of the year the g-arrisons and settlers 
were isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. 
The distance between the three posts was so g^reat and a 
water journey so serious and perilous that all communi- 
cation was often stopped for months. 

The Indians near Michilimackinac were Ojibwas (Chip- 
pewas) and Ottawas. The Ojibwas claimed the Eastern 
side of Michig-an and the Ottawas the Western, "sepa- 
rated by a line drawn southward from the fort itself." 
The principal villag^e of the Ojibwas, on the island of 
Michilimackinac — "contained about a hundred war- 
riors." They had another small villag^e near the head of 
Thunder Bay. The Ottawas, with two hundred and 
fifty warriors, lived at L'Arbre Croche (the tree crooked, 
or crotched), west, on Lake Michig-an. The Jesuit mis- 
sion of St Ig-nace had been moved there from the north 
side of the straits. The Ottawas were nominal Catho- 
lics, and the Ojibwas were not the least removed from 
their primitive barbarism. The two tribes were hostile 
to the English and loyal to the French. Their feeling's 
of hostility were increased by the Canadians who were 
jealous of the Eng-lish and their rivals in the fur trade. 

We will now drop back to 1761, in the spring- and sum- 



90 History of Mackinac. 

mer, and note what was transpiring" at Michilimackiuac. 
The English had not taken possession of the fort and it 
was occupied bj traders and coureur du bois, with their 
Indian families. 

But before coming- to one of a series of acts in the 
drama about to be played, at eleven posts on the line of 
the Great Lakes, let us present to our readers the Eng- 
lish trader, Alexander Henry, who was principal, though 
unwilling actor, in the tragedy at Fort Michilimackiuac. 
Henry was the first English fur trader who arrived 
among them. His adventures will describe the feeling 
of the Indians toward the English. He had difficulty in 
obtaining permission to trade at Michilimackiuac, as no 
treaty of peace had been made with the Indians, the au- 
thorities were apprehensive that the property and lives 
of his Majesty's subjects would not be secure. He was 
eager to make the attempt which he afterwards admitted 
was premature. 

He obtained the coveted license on the 3d of August, 
1761, and began his journey by the "Ottawa route." 
But nothing of note happened until he reached the isl- 
and of La Cloche in Lake Huron. Here he found a 
large village of Indians, who treated him with kindness 
and civility until they discovered he was English. They 
then told him the Indians at Michilimackinac would fall 
upon him and kill him, and they had a right to share the 
pillage. They demanded a keg of rum, and said if it 
was not given, they would take it. Henry complied on 
condition that he should not be further molested. He 
received repeated warnings of sure destruction at Michi- 
limackinac that oppressed him with a sense of danger, 
but he could not return as he was advised, for his pro- 
visions were nearly exhausted. Observing the feeling 



Pontiac's Conspiracy. 91 

was exclusively towards the Eng"lish and his Canadian 
attendants were cordially received, he changed his suit 
for one of Canadian make, besmeared his face with 
g-rease and dirt, and resumed the voyage. He took the 
place of one of the boatmen, and when Indians ap- 
proached, plied the paddle with as much skill as possible. 
During- the rest of the trip he escaped notice. Early in 
September he arrived at the Island of Michilimackinac 
in his voyageurs costume, where we will allow him to 
speak for himself. He writes : 

"The land in the center of this island is high and its 
form somewhat resembles that of a turtle's back. Mack- 
inac, or Mickinac, sig-nifies a turtle^ and inic.hi, or 7nissi, 
signifies great, as it does also several, or many. The 
common interpretation of the word Michilimackinac is, 
the Great Turtle. It is from this island that the fort, 
commonly known b}- the name of Michilimackinac, has 
obtained its appellation. 

"On the island, as I had previously been taught to ex- 
pect, there was a village of Chippewas, said to contain a 
hundred warriors. Here I was fearful of discovery, and 
consequent ill-treatment; but after inquiring the news, 
and particularly whether or not any Englishman was 
coming to Michilimackinac, they suffered us to pass un- 
injured. One man, indeed, looked at me, laughed, and 
pointed me out to another. This was enough to give me 
some uneasiness; but whatever was the singularity he 
perceived in me, both he and his friend retired, without 
suspecting me to be an Englishman. 

"Leaving, as speedily as possible, the island of Michi- 
limackinac, I crossed the strait, and landed at the fort of 
the same name. The distance from the island is about 
two leasfues. I landed at four o'clock in the afternoon. 



92 History oj Mackinac. 

"Here I put the entire charge of my effects into the 
hands of my assistant, Campion, between whom and my- 
self it had been previously agreed that he should pass for 
the proprietor; and my men were instructed to conceal 
the feat that I was an Englishman. 

"Campion soon found a house, to which I retired, and 
where I hoped to remain in privacy; but the men soon 
betrayed m}" secret, and I was visited by the inhabitants, 
with a great show of civility. They assured me that I 
could not stay at Michilimackinac without the most im- 
minent risk, and strongly recommended that I should 
lose no time in making my escape to Detroit. 

"Though language like this could not but increase my 
uneasiness, it did not shake my determination to remain 
with my property, and encounter the evils with which I 
was threatened; and my spirits were in some measure 
sustained by the sentiments of Campion in this regard, 
for he declared his belief that the Canadian inhabitants 
of the fort were more hostile than the Indians, as being 
jealous of Indian traders, who, like myself, were pene- 
trating into the country. 

"Fort Michilimackinac was built by order of the Gov- 
ernor General of Canada, and garrisoned with a small 
number of militia, who, having families, soon became 
less soldiers than settlers. Most of those whom found 
in the fort had originally served in the French army. 

"The fort stands on the south side of the strait, which 
is between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. It has an 
area of two acres, and is inclosed with pickets of cedar 
wood, and it is so near the water's edge that, when the 
wind is in the west, the waves break against the stock- 
ade. On the bastions are two small pieces of brass Eng- 
lish cannon, taken some years since b}^ a party of Cana- 



Pontiacs Conspiracy. 93 

dians who went on a plundering" expedition against the 
posts of Hudson's Bay, which they reached by the route 
of the river Churchill. 

"Within the stockade are thirty houses, neat in their 
appearance, and tolerably commodious; and a church in 
which mass is celebrated by a Jesuit missionar3\ The 
number of families may be nearly equal to that of the 
houses, and their subsistence is derived from the Indian 
traders, who assemble here in their voyages to and from 
Montreal. Michilimackinac is the place of deposit, and 
point of departure between the upper countries and the 
lower. Here the outfits are prepared for the countries 
of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, Lake Superior 
and the Northwest; and here the returns in furs are col- 
lected and embarked for Montreal. 

"I was not released from the visits and admonitions 
of the inhabitants of the fort, before I received the equiv- 
ocal intelligence that the whole band of Chippewas from 
the island of Michilimackinac was arrived with the in- 
tention of paying- me a visit. 

* 'There was in the fort one Farley, an interpreter, 
lately in the employ of the French Commandant. He 
had married a Chippewa woman, and was said to possess 
g^reat influence over the nation to which his wife be- 
longed. Doubtful as to the kind of visit which I was 
about to receive, I sent for this interpreter, and requested 
first that he would have the kindness to be present at 
the interview, and, secondly, that he would inform me of 
the intentions of the band. Mr. Farley agreed to be pres- 
ent; and, as to the object of the visit, replied that it was 
consistent with a uniform custom, that a strang-er on his 
arrival should be waited upon, and welcomed by the 
chiefs of the nation, who, on their part, always gave a 



94 History of Mackinac. 

small present, and always expected a large one; but, as to 
the rest, declared himself unable to answer for the par- 
ticular views of the Chippewas on this occasion, I being- 
an Englishman, and the Indians having made no treat}- 
with the English. He thought that there might be 
danger, the Indians having protested that they would 
not suffer an Englishman to remain in their part of the 
country. This information was far from agreeable; but 
there was no resource, except in fortitude and patience. 

"At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Chippewas came 
to my house, about sixty in number, and headed by 
Mina'va'va'na, their chief. They walked in single file, 
each with his tomahawk in one hand, and scalping- 
knife in the other. Their bodies were naked, from the 
waist upward, except in a few examples, where blankets 
were thrown loosely over their shoulders. Their faces 
were painted with charcoal worked up with grease; their 
bodies with white clay, in patterns of various fancies. 
Some had feathers thrust through their noses, and their 
heads decorated with the same. It is unnecessary to 
dwell on the sensations with which I beheld the approach 
of this uncouth, if not frightful, assemblage. 

"The chief entered first, and the rest followed, with- 
out noise. On receiving a sign from the former, the 
latter seated themselves on the floor. 

"Minavavana appeared to be about tifty years of age. 
He was six feet in height, and had in his countenance an 
indescribable mixture of good and evil. Looking stead- 
fastly at me where I sat in ceremony, with an interpreter 
on either hand, and several Canadians behind me, he 
entered, at the same time, into conversation with Cam- 
pion, inquiring how long it was since I left Montreal, 
and observing that the English, as it would seem, were 



Pontia'cs Conspiracy . 95 

brave men, and not afraid of death, since they dared 
to come, as I had done, fearlessly among- their enemies. 

"The Indians now gravely smoked their pipes, while 
I inwardly endured the tortures of suspense. At length, 
the pipes being finished, as well as along pause by which 
they were succeeded, Minavavana, taking a few strings 
of wampum in his hand, began the following speech: 

"'Englishman, it is to you that I speak, and I de- 
mand your attention! 

" 'Englishman, you know that the French King is our 
father. He promised to be such; and we, in return, 
promised to be his children. This promise we have 
kept. 

"'Eng-lishman, it is you that have made war with this 
our father. You are his enemy; and how, then, could 
you have the boldness to venture among us, his children? 
You know that his enemies are ours. 

" 'Englishman, we are informed that our father, the 
King- of France, is old and infirm; and that, being 
fatigued with making- war upon your nation, he is fallen 
asleep. During his sleep 3'ou have taken advantag-e of 
him, and possessed yourselves of Canada. But his nap 
is almost at an end. I think I hear him already stirring- 
and inquiring for his children, the Indians; and, when 
he does awake, what must become of you? He will de- 
stroy you utterly! 

" 'Englishman, althoug-h you have conquered the 
French, you have not yet conquered us! We are not 
your slaves. These lakes, these woods and mountains, 
were left to us by our ancestors. They are our inheri- 
tance, and we will part with them to none. Your nation 
supposes that we, like the white people, can not live 
without bread— and pork — and beef! But, you ought to 



96 History of Mackinac. 

know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has 
provided food for us, in these spacious lakes, and on 
these woody mountains. 

" 'Englishman, our father, the King- of France, em- 
ployed our young" men to make war upon your nation. 
In this warfare many of them have been killed; and it is 
our custom to retaliate until such time as the spirits of 
the slain are satisfied. But the spirits of the slain are 
to be satisfied in either of two ways; the first is by the 
spilling- of the blood of the nation by which they fall; 
the other, by covering the bodies of the dead, and thus 
allaying- the resentment of their relations. This is 
done by making- presents. 

" 'Eng-lishman, your king- has never sent us any 
presents, nor entered into any treaty with us, wherefore 
he and we are still at war; and, until he does these 
thing-s, we must consider that we have no other father 
nor friend, among- the white men, than the King- of 
France; but, for you, we have taken into consideration 
that you have ventured your life among- us in the expec- 
tation that we should not molest you. You do not come 
armed, with an intention to make war; you come in 
peace, to trade with us, and supply us with necessaries, 
of which we are much in want. We shall reg-ard you, 
therefore, as a brother; and you may sleep tranquilly, 
without fear of the Chippewas. As a token of our 
friendship, we present you with this pipe, to smoke.' 

"As Minavavana uttered these words, an Indian pre- 
sented me with a pipe, which, after I had drawn the 
smoke three times, was carried to the chief, and after 
him to every person in the room. This ceremony ended, 
the chief arose, and g-ave me his hand, in which he was 
followed by all of the rest. 



Pontiads Cojispiracy. 97 

"Being" again seated, Minavavana requested that his 
■young men might be allowed to taste what he called my 
English milk (meaning rum), observing, that it was 
long since they had tasted an}-, and that they were very 
desirous to know whether or not there were any differ- 
ence between the English milk and the French. 

"My adventure on leaving Fort William Augustus 
had left an impression on my mind which made me 
tremble when Indians asked for rum; and I would there- 
fore willingly have excused myself in this particular; 
but, being informed that it was customary to comply with 
the request, and withal satisfied with the friendly declar- 
ations which I had received, I promised to give them a 
small cask at parting. After this, by the aid of my inter- 
preter, I made a reply to the speech of Minavavana, de- 
claring that it was the good character which I had heard 
of the Indians that had alone emboldened me to come 
among them; that their late father, the King of France^ 
had surrendered Canada to the King of England, whom 
they ought to regard now as their father, and who would 
be as careful of them as the other had been; that I had 
come to furnish them with necessaries, and that their 
good treatment of me would be an encouragement to 
others. They appeared satisfied with what I said, re- 
peating Eh! (an expression of approbation) after hear- 
ing each particular. I had prepared a present, which I 
now gave them with the utmost good-will. At their 
departure, I distributed a small quantity of rum.- 

"Relieved, as I now imagined mj^self, from all occa- 
sion of anxiety as to the treatment which I was to 
experience from the Indians, I assorted my goods, and 
hired Canadian interpreters and clerks, in whose care I 
was to send them into Lake Michigan, and the river 



"98 History of Mackinac. 

Saint Pierre, in the country or the Nadowessies; into 
Lake Superior among the Chippewas; and to the Grand 
Portag-e, for the north-west. Every thing was ready 
for their departure, when new dangers sprung up and 
threatened to overwhelm me. 

"At the entrance of Lake Michigan, and at about 
twenty miles to the west of Fort Michilimackinac, is the 
village of L'Arbre Croche, inhabited by a band of 
Ottawas, boasting of two hundred and fifty fighting 
men. L'Arbre Croche is the seat of the Jesuite Mission 
of St. Ignace de Michilimackinac, and the people are 
partly baptized and partly not. The missionary resides 
on a farm, attached to the mission, and situated be- 
tween the village and the fort, both of which are under 
his care. The Ottawas of L'Arbre Croche, who, when 
compared with the Chippewas, appear to be much 
advanced in civilization^ grow maize for the market of 
Michilimackinac, where this commodity is depended 
upon for provisioning the canoes. 

"The new dangers which presented themselves came 
from this village of Ottawas. Every thing, as I have 
said, was in readiness for the departure of my goods, 
when accounts arrived of its approach; and shortly 
after, two hundred warriors entered the fort, and 
billeted themselves in the several houses among the 
Canadian inhabitants. The next morning they assem- 
bled in the house which was built for the commandant, 
or governor, and ordered the attendance of myself, and 
of two other merchants, still later from Montreal; 
namely, Messrs. Stanly Goddard and Ezekiel Solomons. 

"After our entering the council-room, and taking our 
seats, one of the chiefs commenced an address: 'Eng- 
lishmen,' he said, 'we, the Ottawas, were some time 



Pontiads Conspiracy. 99 

since" informed of your arrival in this country, and of 
your having" brought v^^ith you the goods of which we 
have need. At the news we were greatly pleased, 
believing that, through your assistance, our wives and 
children would be enabled to pass another Winter; but 
what was our surprise when, a few days ago, we were 
again informed that the goods which, as we had expect- 
ed, were intended for us, were on the eve of departure 
for distant countries, of which some are inhabited by 
our enemies! These accounts being spread, our wives 
and childred came to us, crying, and desiring that we 
should go to the fort, to learn with our own ears, their 
truth or falsehood. We accordingly embarked, almost 
naked, as you see; and on our arrival here, we have in- 
quired into the accounts, and found them true. We see 
your canoes ready to depart, and find your men engaged 
for the Mississippi and other distant regions. 

" 'Under these circumstances, we have considered the 
affair; and you are now sent for, that you may hear our 
determination, which is, that you shall give to each of 
our men, young and old, merchandise and ammunition 
to the amount of fifty beaver skins, on credit, and for 
which I have no doubt of their paying you in the Sum- 
mer, on their return from their wintering-.' 

"A compliance with this demand would have stripped 
me and my fellow- merchants of all our merchandise ; and 
what rendered the affair still more serious, we even 
learned that these Ottawas were never accustomed to 
pay for what they received on credit. In reply, there- 
fore, to the speech which we had heard, we requested 
that the demand contained in it might be diminished ; 
but we were answered, that the Ottawas had nothing 
further to say, except that they would allow until the 



100 History of Mackinac. 

next day for reflection ; after which, if compliance was 
not g-iven thej would make no further application, but 
take into their own hands the property, which they al- 
ready reg-arded as their own, as having- been brought 
into their country before the conclusion of any peace 
between themselves and the English. 

" We now returned to consider our situation; and in 
the evening, Farley, the interpreter, paid us a visit, and 
assured us that it was the intention of the Ottawas to 
put us, that night, to death. He advised us, as our only 
means of safety, to comply with the demands which had 
been made ; but we suspected our informant of a dispo- 
sition to prey upon our fears, with a view to induce us 
to abandon the Indian trade, and resolved, however this 
might be, rather to stand on the defensive than submit. 
We trusted to the house in which I lived as a fort ; and 
armed ourselves, and about thirty of our men, with mus- 
kets. Whether or not the Ottawas ever intended vio- 
lence, we never had an opportunity of knowing; but the 
night passed quietly. 

"Early the next morning, a second council was held, 
and the merchants were again summoned to attend. Be- 
lieving that every hope of resistance would be lost should 
we commit our person into the hands of our enemies, we 
sent only a refusal. There was none without, in whom 
we had any confidence, except Campion. From him we 
learned, from time to time, whatever was rumored 
among the Canadian inhabitants as to the designs of the 
Ottawas ; and from him, toward sunset, we received the 
gratifying intelligence that a detachment of British sol- 
diery, sent to g-arrison Michilimackinac, was distant 
only five miles, and would enter the fort early the next 
morning. Near at hand, however, as relief was reported 



Pontiac's Conspiracy. 101 

to be, our anxiety could not but be great ; for a long- 
night was to be passed, and our fate mig-ht be decided be- 
fore the morning-. To increase our apprehensions, about 
midnight we were informed that the Ottawas were hold- 
ing a council, at which no white man was permitted to be 
present, Farle}- alone excepted ; and him we suspected, 
and afterward positively knew, to be our greatest enemy. 
We, on our part, remained all hight upon the alert ; but 
at daybreak, to our surprise and joy, we saw the Ottawas 
preparing to depart. By sunrise, not a man of them was 
left in the fort, and, indeed, the scene was altogether 
changed. The inhabitants, who, while the Ottawas 
were present, had avoided all connection with the En- 
glish traders, now came with congratulations. They 
related that the Ottawas had proposed to them that, if 
joined by the Canadians, they would march and attack 
the troops which were known to be advancing- on the 
fort ; and they added that it was their refusal which had 
determined the Ottawas to depart. At noon three hun- 
dred troops of the Sixtieth Regiment, under the command 
of Lieutenant Lesslie, marched into the fort ; and this 
arrival dissipated all our fears, from whatever source 
derived. After a few days, detachments were sent into 
the Bay des Puans, by which is the route to the Missis- 
sippi, and at the mouth of St. Joseph, which leads to the 
Illinois. The Indians from all quarters came to pay 
their respects to the commandant ; and the merchants 
dispatched their canoes, though it was now the middle 
of September, and therefore somewhat late in the 
season." 

Henry spent the winter in Michilimackinac, amusing 
himself by hunting and fishing. But few of the Indians 
came to the fort, excepting two families, one of which 



102 History of Mackinac. 

was that of a chief. These families lived on a river* five 
leagues below, and came occasionally with beaver flesh 
for sale. That chief was an exception to the rule ; for 
instead of being- hostile toward the English, he was 
warmly attached to them. But in this case the excep- 
tion proved the rule, to a demonstration. Henry thus 
writes of him : " He had been taken prisoner by Sir 
William Johnson, at the siege of Fort Niagara ; and had 
received from that intelligent officer his liberty, the 
medal usually presented to a chief, and the British flag. 
Won by these unexpected acts of kindness, he had re- 
turned to Michilimackinac, full of praises of the English, 
and hoisting his flag over his lodge. This latter dem- 
onstration of his partiality had nearly cost him his life ; 
his lodge was broken down, and his flag torn to pieces. 
The pieces he carefully gathered up, and preserved with 
pious care ; and whenever he came to the fort, he drew 
them forth and exhibited them. On these occasions it 
grew into a custom to give him as much liquor as he said 
was necessary to make him cry over the misfortune of 
losing his flag. The commandant would have given him 
another; but he thought that he could not accept it 
without danger," 

When navigation opened Henry left Michilimackinac 
to visit Sault St. Marie. "Here he made the acquaint- 
ance of M. Cadotte, an interpreter, whose wife was a 
Chippewa; and, desirous of learning that language, he de- 
cided to spend the succeeding winter in the family of his 
new-found friend. Here also there was a small fort, 
and during the summer a small detachment of troops, 
under the command of Lieutenant Jamette, arrived to 
garrison it. Late in the fall, however, a destructive fire, 
which consumed all the houses except Cadotte's, and all 
*Chebovai,'-an River. 



Pontiac's Conspiracy. 103 

the fort supplies, made it necessarj^ to send the garrison 
back to Michilimackinac. The lew that were left at this 
place were now crowded into one small house, and com- 
pelled to gain a subsistence by hunting- and fishing-. 
Thus, inuring- himself to hardships, and familiarizing- 
himself with the Chippewa tong-ue, Henr}- passed the 
second winter of his sojourn in the wilderness of the 
Upper Lakes. Early in the succeeding- spring-, 1763, he 
was visited by Sir Robert Dover, an Eng-lish g-entleman, 
who, as Henry tells us, 'was on a vo3'ag-e of curiosity,' 
and with him he ag-ain returned to Michilimackinac." He 
intended to remain until his clerks should come from 
the interior, and then go back to the Sault. Leaving 
our hero at the moment of his arrival at the fort, we 
turn our attention to tribes further south. 

Parkman says: "It is difficult to determine which 
tribe was first to raise the cry of war. There were 
many who might have done so ; for all the savages ia 
the backwoods were ripe for an outbreak, and the move- 
ment seemed almost simultaneous. The Delawares and 
Senecas were the most incensed ; and Kiashuta, chief of 
the latter, was perhaps foremost to apply the torch ; but 
if this were the case, he touched fire to materials already 
on the point of igniting. It belonged to a greater chief 
than he to give method and order to what would else 
have been a wild burst of fury, and to convert desultory 
attacks into a formidable and protracted war. But for 
Pontiac, the whole might have ended in a few trouble- 
some inroads upon the frontier, and a little whooping 
and yelling under the walls of Fort Pitt." 

The nationality of Pontiac is disputed. Some have 
made him a member of the tribe of Sacks, or Saakies* 
but the greater number have placed him among the Ot-^ 



104 History oj Mackuiac. 

tawas. "His nome was about eight miles above Detroit, 
on Peche Island, which looks out upon the waters of 
X/ake St. Clair. His form was cast in the finest mold of 
savage grace and strength, and his eye seemed capable 
of penetrating, at a glance, the secret motives which ac- 
tuated the savage tribes around him. His rare personal 
qualities, his courage, resolution, wisdom, address, and 
eloquence, together with the hereditary claim to author- 
ity which, according to Indian custom, he possessed, se- 
cured for him the esteem of both the French and Kng- 
]ish, and gave him an influence among the Lake tribes 
greater than that of any other individual. Earl}- in life 
he distinguished himself as a chieftain of no ordinary 
ability. In 1746 he commanded a powerful body of In- 
dians, mostly Ottawas, who gallantly defended the peo- 
ple of Detroit against the formidable attack of several 
combined northern tribes; and it is supposed that he was 
present at the disastrous defeat of Braddock, in which 
several hundred of his warriors were engaged. He had 
always, at least up to the time when Major Rogers came 
into the country, been a firm friend of the French, and 
received man}- marks of esteem from the French officer, 
Marquis de Montcalm." 

"How could he, then, ' the daring chief of the North- 
west,' do otherwise than dispute the Eng-lish claim to his 
country? How could he endure the sight of this people 
driving the game from his hunting-grounds, and his 
friends and allies from the lands they had so long pos. 
sessed? When he heard that Rog-ers was advancing 
along the lakes to take possession of the country, his in- 
dignation knew no bounds, and he at once sent deputies, 
requesting him to halt until such time as he could see 
him. Flattering words and fair promises induced him. 



Po)itiac's Conspiracy. 105 

at leng-th, to extend the hand of friendship to Rog^ers. 
He was inclined to live peaceably with the Eng"lish, and 
to encourag-e their settling- in the country, as long as 
they treated him as he deserved; but if they treated him 
with neg-lect, he would shut up the way, and exclude 
them from it. He did not consider himself a conquered 
prince, but he expected to be treated with the respect 
and honor due to a king-." 

The Indians felt, as Minavavana expressed it, that 
they had "no father among- the white men but the 
King- of France;" Pontiac resolved, as he had threatened, 
to "shut up the way." His plan was to make a contem- 
poraneous assault upon all the British posts, and effectu- 
ally extinguish the English power at a single blow. 
"This was a stroke of policy which evinced an extraordin- 
ary genius, and demanded for its execution an energy 
and courage of the highest order. But Pontiac was fully 
equal to the task. He was as skillful in executing as he 
bold in planning. He knew that success would multiply 
friends and allies; but friends and allies were necessary 
to insure success." 

"First, then, a council must be called; and for this 
purpose, at the close of 1762, he sent out his ambassa- 
dors to all the different nations. With the war-belt of 
wampum and the tomahawk stained red in token of war, 
these swift-footed messengers went from camp to camp 
and from village to village, throughout the North, South, 
East, and West; and in whatever tribe they appeared, 
the sachems assembled to hear the words of the great 
Pontiac. The message was everywhere heard with ap- 
probation, the war-belt accepted, and the hatchet seized, 
as an indication that the assembled chiefs stood pledged 
to take part in the war. 



106 History of Mackinac. 

"The Grand Council assembled on the twenty-seventh 
day of the following- April, on the banks of the little 
river Ecorce, not far from Detroit. The pipe went round, 
and Pontiac stepped forth, plumed and painted in the 
full costume of war. He called into requisition all the 
eloquence and cunning- of which he was master. He ap- 
pealed to their fears, their hopes, their ambition, their 
cupidity, their hatred of the English, and their love for 
their old friends, the French. He displayed to them a 
belt which he said the King- of France had sent him, 
urg-ing- him to drive the English from the country, and 
open the way for the return of the French. He painted, 
in g'lowing- colors, the common interests of their race, 
and called upon them to make a stand ag-ainst a common 
foe." He related a dream in which the Great Manitou 
had appeared to a chief of the Abenakis, saying-: "I am 
the Maker of heaven and earth, the trees, lakes, rivers, 
and all thing-s else. I am the Maker of mankind, and 
because I love you, you must do my will. The land on 
which you live, I made for you, and not for others. Why 
do you suffer the white men to dwell among- you? My chil- 
dren, you have forg-otten the customs and traditions of 
your forefathers. Why do you not clothe yourselves in 
skins, as they did, and use the bows and arrows, and 
the stone-pointed lances which they used? You have 
bought g-uns,' knives, kettles, and blankets from the 
white men, until you can no long-er do without them; 
and, what is worse, you have drunk the poison fire-water, 
which turns you into fools. Fling- all these thing-s away; 
live as your wise forefathers lived before you, and as for 
these Eng-lish — these dog-s dressed in red, who have come 
to rob you of your hunting--g-rounds, and drive away the 
game — you must lift the hatchet against them. Wipe 



Massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. 107 

them from the face of the earth, and then you will win 
my fa vox back again, and once more be happy and pros- 
perous. The children of your great father, the King- of 
France, are not like the Eng-lish, Never forg-et they are 
your brethren. They are very dear to me, for they love 
the red men, and understand the true mode of worship- 
ing me." 

We left Henry on his arrival at the fort. The Otta- 
was and Chippewas had received the war belt of black 
and purple wampum and the painted hatchet, from Pon- 
tiac, and were pledged to join in the war of extermina- 
tion. Near the last of May word came that the blow 
had been struck at Detroit, and the Indians were wild 
with excitement. The Chippewas resolved to assault 
Michilimackinac at once and not notify the Ottawas. 
Other tribes had gathered in the vicinity who joined the 
Chippewas. We will continue the story in Henry's own 
words: 

MASSACRE AT FORT MICHILIMACKINAC. 

"When I reached Michilimackinac, I found several 
other traders who had arrived before me, from ditferent 
parts of the country, and who, in general, declared the 
disposition of the Indians to be hostile to the English, 
and even apprehended some attack. M. Laurent 
Ducharme distinctly informed Major Ethrington that a 
plan was absolutely conceived for destroying him, his 
garrison, and all the English in the upper country; but 
the commandant, believing this and other reports to be 
without foundation, proceeding only from idle' or ill- 
disposed persons, and of a tendency to do mischief, 
expressed much displeasure against M. Ducharme, and 
threatened to send the next person who should bring a 
story of the same kind a prisoner to Detroit. 



108 History of Mackinac. 

"The g-arrison at this time consisted of ninety pri- 
vates, two subalterns, and the commandant, and the 
Eng-lish merchants at the fort were four in number. 
Thus strong- few entertained anxiety concerning the 
Indians, who had no weapons but small arms. 

"Meanwhile the Indians from every quarter were 
daily assembling- in usual numbers, but with every 
appearance of friendship, frequenting the forts and dis- 
posing of their peltries in such a manner as to dissipate 
almost any one's fears. For myself, on one occasion I 
took the liberty of observing- to Major Ethrington that, 
in my judgment, no confidence oug-ht to be placed in 
them, and that I was informed no less than four hundred 
lay around the fort. In return the Major only rallied 
me on my timidity: and it is to be confessed that, if 
this officer neglected admonition on his part, so did I on 
mine. Shortly after my first arrival at Michilimacki- 
nac, in the preceding- year, a Chippewa named 
Wawatam began to come often to my house, betraying 
in his demeanor strong- marks of personal regard. 
After this had continued for some time, he came on a 
certain day, bringing- with him his whole family; and, 
at the same time, a large present, consisting of skins, 
sugar, and dried meat. Having laid these in a heap, he 
commenced a speech, in which he informed me that, 
some years before, he had observed a fast, devoting 
himself, according to the custom of his nation, to soli- 
tude and the mortification of his body, in the hope to 
obtain from the Great Spirit protection throug-h all his 
days; that, on this occasion, he had dreamed of adopt- 
ing an Eng-lishman as his son, brother and friend; that, 
from the moment in which he first beheld me, he had 
recognized me as the person whom the Great Spirit had 



Mqssacre at Fort Michilimackinac. 109 

been pleased to point out to him for a brother; that he 
hoped that I would not refuse his present, and that he 
should forever reg-ard me as one of his family. 

"I could do no otherwise than accept the present, and 
declare my willing-ness to have so good a man as this 
appeared to be for my friend and brother. I offered a 
present in return for that which I had received, which 
Wawatam accepted, and then, thanking- me for the favor 
which he said that I had rendered him, he left me, and 
soon after set out on his Winter's hunt. 

"Twelve months had now elapsed since the occurrence 
of this incident, and I had almost forgotten the person 
of my brother, when, on the second day of June, 
Wawatam came ag-ain to my house, in a temper of mind 
visibly melancholy and thoughtful. He told me that he 
had just returned from his wintering-ground, and I 
asked after his health; but without answering my ques- 
tion, he went on to say that he was very sorry to find 
me returned from the Sault; that he had intended to g-o 
to that place himself, immediately after his arrival at 
Michilimackinac; and that he wished me to g^o there 
along with him and his famil}^ the next morning. To 
all this he joined an inquiry whether or not the com- 
mandant had heard bad news, adding that, during the 
Winter, he had himself been frequently disturbed with 
the noise of evil birds; and further suggesting that there 
were numerous Indians near the fort, many of whom 
had never shown themselves within it. Wawatam was 
about forty-five years of age, of an excellent character 
among his nation, and a chief. 

"Referring much of what I heard to the peculiarities 
of the Indian character, I did not pay all the attention 
which they will be found to have deserved to the en- 



110 History of Mackinac. 

treaties and remarks of my visitor. I answered that I 
could not think of g"oing- to the Sault so soon as the next 
morning-, but would follow him there after the arrival 
of my clerks. Finding- himself unable to prevail with 
me, he withdrew for that day; but early the next morn- 
ing he came again, bringing with him his wife and a 
present of dried meat. At this interview, after stating- 
that he had several packs of beaver, for which he in- 
tended to deal with me, he expressed a second time his 
apprehensions from the numerous Indians who were 
around the fort, and earnestly pressed me to consent to 
an immediate departure for the Sault. As a reason for 
this particular request, he assured me that all the 
Indians proposed to come in a body that day to the fort, 
to demand liquor of the commandant, and that he 
wished me to be g-one before they should grow intoxicat- 
ed. I had made, at the period to which I am now 
referring, so much progress in the language in which 
Wawatam addressed me, as to be able to hold an ordi- 
nary conversation in it; but the Indian manner of 
speech is so extravagantly figurative, that it is only for 
a very perfect master to follow and comprehend it 
entirely. Had I been further advanced in this respect, I 
think that I should have gathered so much information 
from this, my friendly monitor, as would have put me 
into possession of the designs of the enemy, and enabled 
me to save others as well as myself; as it was, it unfor- 
tunately happened that I turned a deaf ear to every 
thing, leaving Wawatam and his wife, after long and 
patient, but ineffectual efforts, to depart alone, with 
dejected countenances, and not before they had each let 
fall some tears. 

"In the course of the same day, I observed that the 



Massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. Ill 

Indians came in great numbers into the fort, purchasing- 
tomahawks (small axes of one pound weight), and fre- 
quently desiring" to see silver arm-bands, and other valu- 
able ornaments, of which I had a large quantity for sale. 
These ornaments, however, they in no instance purchased; 
but, after turning them over, left them, saying- that they 
would call again the next day. Their motive, as it 
afterwards appeared, was no other than the very artful 
one of discovering, by requesting to see them, the par- 
ticular places of their deposit, so that they might lay 
their hands on them in the moment of pillage, with the 
greater certainty and dispatch. 

"At night I turned in my mind the visits of Wawatam; 
but, though they were calculated to excite uneasiness, 
nothing induced me to believe that serious mischief was 
at hand. 

"The next day, being the 4th of June, was the 
king's birthday. The morning was sultry. A Chippewa 
came to tell me that his nation was going to play at 
bag'gat'iway, with the Sacs or Saakies, another Indian 
nation, for a high wager. He invited me to witness the 
sport, adding that the commandant was to be there, and 
would be on the side of the Chippewas. In consequence 
of this information, I went to the commandant, and ex- 
postulated with him a little, representing that the In- 
dians might possibly have some sinister end in view; but 
thecommandant only smiled at my suspicions." 

" The game of baggatiway, which the Indians played 
upon that memorable occasion, was the most exciting 
sport in which the red man could engage. It was played 
with bat and ball. The bat, so called, was about four 
foot in length, and an inch in diameter. It was made 
of the toughest material that could be found. At one 



112 History of Mackinac. 

end it was curved, and terminated in a sort of racket, 
or perhaps more properly a ring, in which a network of 
cord was loosely woven. The players were not allowed 
to touch the ball with the hand, but caught it in this 
network at the end of the bat. At either end of the 
ground a tall post was planted. These posts marked 
the stations of the rival parties, and were sometimes 
a mile apart. The object of each party was to defend 
its own post and carry the ball to that of the adver- 
sary." 

" At the beginning of the game the main body of the 
players assemble half-way between the two posts. Every 
eye sparkles and every cheek is already aglow with ex- 
citement. The ball is tossed high into the air, and a gen- 
eral struggle ensues to secure it as it descends. He who 
succeeds starts for the goal of the adversary holding it 
high above his head. The opposite party, with merry 
yells, are swift to pursue. His course is intercepted, and 
rather than see the ball taken from him, he throws it, as 
the boy throws a stone from a sling, as far toward the 
goal of the adversary as he can. An adversary in the 
game catches it, and sends it whizzing back in the oppo- 
site direction. Hither and thither it goes ; now far to 
the right, now as far to the left ; now near to the one, 
now as near to the other goal; the whole band crowding 
continually after it in the wildest confusion, until final- 
ly, some agile figure, more fleet of foot than the others, 
succeeds in bearing it to the goal of the opposite party." 

The writer when a boy, eleven years old, saw this 
game played near Fort Towson, in the Indian Teritory, 
between Choctaws and Chickasaws. My father was 
Post Surgeon in the medical corps of the army, at Tow- 
son. We were the guests of a Choctaw chief, Colbert. 



Massacre at Foj't M ichilimackinac. 113 

and his son. I went to school with young" Colbert, where 
there about forty pupils, all Indians, except two white 
boys and myself. On this occasion there were one hun- 
dred players, fifty from each tribe. The players were 
naked, excepting- a breech-clout, of raw-hide or cloth, 
ornamented with feathers or beads, some decked behind 
with horse or coon tails, according- to the fanc}" of the 
buck. The g-arae was played just as here described, but 
there were two long- poles, about six or eig-ht inches 
apart, at each end of the line. The object was to throw 
the ball between the poles of the adversary. At the 
termination of the g-ame there was a g-reat feast, and, 
among- other delicacies, dog- was served. My father said 
I partook of roast dog- with a relish, but I don't remem- 
ber that part. 

"In the heat of the contest, when all are running- at 
their g-reatest speed, if one stumbles and falls, fifty or a 
hundred, who are in close pursuit and unable to stop, 
pile over him forming- a mound of human bodies; and 
frequently players are so bruised as to be unable to pro- 
ceed in the g-ame. 

"This g-ame, with its attendant noise and violence, 
was well calculated to divert the attention of officers and 
men, and thus permit the Indians to take possession of 
the fort. To make their success more certain, they pre- 
vailed upon as many as they could to come out of the 
fort, while at the same time their squaws wrapped in 
blankets, beneath which they concealed the murderous 
weapons, were placed inside the inclosure. The plot 
was so ing-enionsly laid that no one suspected danger. 
The discipline of the g-arrison was relaxed, and the sol- 
diers permitted to stroll about and view the sport, with- 
out weapons of defense. And even when the ball, as if 



114 History of Mackinac. 

by chance, was lifted hig-h in the air, to descend inside 
the pickets, and was followed by four hundred savag-es, 
all eag-er, all strug-g-ling", all shouting- in the unrestrained 
pursuit of a rude athletic exercise, no alarm was felt 
until the shrill war-whoop told the startled gfarrison 
that the slaughter had actually begun." 

Henry continues: "I did not go myself to see the 
match which was now to be played without the fort, be- 
cause, there being a canoe prepared to depart on the fol- 
lowing- day, for Montreal, I employed myself in writing 
letters to my friends; and even when a fellow trader, Mr. 
Tracy, happened to call upon me, saying that another 
canoe had just arrived from Detroit, and proposing- that 
I should g-o with him to the beach, to inquire the n-ews, 
it so happened that I still remained, to finish my letters, 
promising- to follow Mr. Tracy in the course of a few 
minutes. Mr. Tracy had not g-one more than twenty 
paces from my, door when I heard an Indian war-cry, 
and a noise of general confusion. Going instantly to my 
window, I saw a crowd of Indians within the fort, furi- 
ously cutting down and scalping every Knglishman they 
found. In particular I witnessed the fate of Lieutenant 
Jamette. 

"I had, in the room in which I was, a fowling-piece, 
loaded with swan-shot. This I immediately seized, and 
held it for a few minutes, waiting to hear the drum beat 
to arms. In this dreadful interval I saw several of my 
countrymen fall, and more than one struggling between 
the knees of an Indian, who, holding him in this manner, 
scalped him while yet living. 

"At length, disappointed in the hope of seeing- resist- 
ance made to the enemy, and sensible of course, that no 
effort of my own unassisted arm could avail against four 



Massacre at Fort M ichiliviackinac. 115 

hundred Indians, I thought only of seeking shelter. 
Amid the slaug-hter which was raging, I observed many 
of the Canadian inhabitants of the fort calmly looking 
on, neither opposing the Indians nor suffering injury; 
and, from this circumstance, I conceived a hope of find- 
ing securit}' in their homes. 

"Between the. yard-door of my own house and of M. 
Langlade, my next neighbor, there was only a low fence, 
over which. I easily climbed. At my entrance I found 
the whole family at the windows, gazing at the scene of 
blood before them. I addressed myself iramediatel}^ to 
M. Langlade; begging that he would put me into some 
place of safety until the heat of the affair should be over, 
an act of charity by which he might perhaps preserve me 
from the general massacre; but, while I uttered my peti- 
tion, M. Langlade, who had looked for a moment at me, 
turned again to the window, shrugging his shoulders, 
and intimating that he could do nothing for me: ^Que 
voiidriez — vous que f en ferais ?'' 

"This was a moment for despair; but the next, a Pani 
woman, a slave of M. Langlade, beckoned me to follow 
her. She brought me to a door, which she opened, de- 
siring me to enter, and telling me that it led to the gar- 
ret, where I must go and conceal myself. I joyfully 
obeyed her directions; and she, having followed me up 
to the garret door, locked it after me, and with great 
presence of mind took away the key. 

"This shelter obtained, if shelter I could hope to find 
it, I was naturally anxious to know what might still be 
passing without. Through an aperture, which afforded 
me a view of the area of the fort, I beheld, in shapes the 
foulest and most terrible, the ferocious triumphs of bar- 
barian conquerors. The dead were scalped and mangled; 



116 History of Mackinac. 

the dying- were writhing- and shrieking under the un- 
satiated knife and tomahawk; and from the bodies of 
some, ripped open, their butchers were drinking- the 
blood, scooped up in the hollow of joined hands, and 
quaffed amid shouts of rage and victory, I was shaken, 
not only with horror, but with fear. The sufferings 
which I witnessed, I seemed on the point of experienc- 
ing-. No long time elapsed before, everyone being- de- 
stroyed who could be found, there was a general cry of 
'All is finished !' At the same instant I heard some of ' 
the Indians enter the house in which I was The garret 
was separated from the room below only by a layer of 
sing-le boards, at once the flooring of the one and the ceil- 
ing- of the other. I could therefore hear everything- that 
passed; and the Indians no sooner came in than they in- 
quired whether or not any Englishmen were in the house. 
M. Lang-lade replied that 'he could not say'; he 'did not 
know of any,' — answers in which he did not exceed the 
truth, for the *Pani woman had not only hidden me by 
stealth, but kept my secret, and her own. M. Lang-- 
lade was therefore, as I presume, as far from a wish to 
destroy me as he was careless about saving- me, when 
he added to these answers, that 'they might examine for 
themselves, and would soon be satisfied as to the object 
of their question.' Saying this, he brought them to the 
g-arret door. 

"The state of my mind will be imagined. Arrived at 
the door, some delay was occasioned by the absence of 
the key, and a few moments were thus allowed me in 
which to look around me for a hiding- place. In one 
corner of the garret was a heap of those vessels of birch 

*Paunee. 



Massacre at Fort Michiliinackinac. 117 

bark used in maple-sugar making-, as I have recently- 
described. 

"The door was unlocked, and opening, and *the 
Indians ascending the stairs, before I had completely 
crept into a small opening which presented itself at one 
end of the heap. An instant later four Indians entered 
the room, all armed with tomahawks, and all besmeared 
with blood upon every part of their bodies. 

"The die appeared to be cast. I could scarcely breathe, 
but I thought that the throbbing of my heart occasioned 
a noise loud enough to betray me. The Indians walked 
in every direction around the garret, and one of them 
approached me so closely that at a particular moment, 
had he put forth his hand he must have touched me. 
Still I remained undiscovered, a circumstance to which 
the dark color of m}- clothes, and the want of light in 
a room which had no window, and in the corner in which 
I was, must have contributed. In a word, after taking 
several turns in the room, during which they told M. 
Langlade how many they had killed, and how many 
scalps they had taken, they returned down stairs, and I, 
with sensations not to be expressed, heard the door, 
which was a barrier between me and my fate, locked for 
the second time. 

"There was a feather bed on the floor, and on this, 
exhausted as I was by the agitation of my mind, I threw 
myself down and fell asleep. In this state I remained 
till the dark of the evening, when I was awakened by 
a second opening of the door. The person that now en- 
tered was M. Langlade's wife, who was much surprised 
at finding me, but advised me not to be uneasy, observ- 
ing that the Indians had killed most of the English, but 
that she hoped I might myself escape. A shower of rain 



118 History of Mackinac. 

having" beg"un to fall, she had come to stop a hole in the 
roof. On her gfoing- away, I beg-g-ed her to send me a 
little water to drink, which she did. 

"As night was now advancing, I continued to lie on the 
bed, ruminating on my condition, but unable to discover 
a source from which I could hope for life. A flight to 
Detroit had no probable chance of success. The distance 
from Michilimackinac was four hundred miles ; I was 
without provisions ; and the whole length of the road lay 
through Indian countries, countries of an enemy in arms, 
where the first man whom I should meet would kill me. 
To stay where I was, threatened nearly the same issue. 
As before, fatig-ue of mind, and not tranquility, suspend- 
ed my cares and procured me further sleep. 

" The respite which sleep afforded me, during the 
night, was put to an end b}' the return of morning. I 
was again on the rack of apprehension. At sunrise 
I heard the family stirring-, and, presently after, Indian 
voices, informing M. Langlade that the}- had not found 
my hapless self among the dead, and that they supposed 
me to be somewhere concealed. M. Langlade appeared, 
from what followed, to be, by this time, acquainted with 
the place of my retreat, of which no doubt he had been 
informed by his wife. The poor woman, as soon as the 
Indians mentioned me declared to her husband in the 
French tongue, that he should no longer keep me in his 
house, but deliver me up to my pursuers ; g^iving- as a 
reason for this measure, that should the Indians discover 
his instrumentality in my concealment, they might 
avenge it on her children, and that it was better that I 
should die than they. M. Langlade resisted, at first, 
this sentence of his wife's, but soon suffered her to pre- 
vail, informing- the Indians that he had been told I was 



Massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. 119 

in the house, that I had come there without his knowl- 
edge, and that he would put me into their hands. This 
was no sooner expressed than he beg-an to ascend the 
stairs, the Indians following- upon his heels. 

"I now resigned myself to the fate with which I was 
menaced ; and, regarding every attempt at concealment 
as vain, I arose from the bed, and presented myself full 
in view to the Indians who were entering the room. 
They were all in a state of intoxication, and entirely 
naked, except about the middle. One of them, named, 
Wenniway, whom I had previously known, and who was 
upward of six feet in height, had his entire face and 
body covered with charcoal and grease, only that a 
white spot of two inches in diameter encircled either eye. 
This man, walking up to me, seized me with one hand by 
the collar of the coat, while in the other he held a large 
carving-knife, as if to plunge it into my breast; his eyes, 
meanwhile, were fixed steadfastly on mine. At length, 
after some seconds of the most anxious suspense, he 
dropped his arm, saying, 'I won't kill you!' To this he 
added that he had been frequently engaged in wars 
against the English, and had brought away many scalps; 
that, on a certain occasion he had lost a brother whose 
name was Musinigou, and that I should be called after 
him. 

"A reprieve, on any terms, placed me among the liv- 
ing, and gave me back the sustaining voice of hope ; but 
Wenniway ordered me down stairs, and there informing 
me that I was to be taken to his cabin, where, and indeed 
everywhere else, the Indians were all mad with liquor, 
death again was threatened, and not as possible only, 
but as certain. I mentioned my fears on this subject to 
M. Langlade, begging him to represent the danger to 



120 History of Mackinac. 

my master. M. Lang-lade, in this instance, did not with- 
hold his compassion, and Wenniway immediately con- 
sented that I should remain where I was, until he found 
another opportunity to take me away. 

"Thus far secure, I reascended my garret stairs, in 
order to place myself the farthest possible out of the 
reach of insult from drunken Indians ; but I had not re- 
mained there more than an hour, when I was 
called to the room below, in which was an Indian, who 
said that I must g-o with him out of the fort, Wenniway 
having" sent him to fetch me. This man, as well as 
Wenniway himself, I had seen before. In the preceding 
year I had allowed him to take goods on credit, for 
which he was still in my debt ; and, some short time 
previous to the surprise of the fort, he had said, upon my 
upbraiding him with want of honesty, that 'he would pay 
me before long!' This speech now came fresh into my 
memory, and led me to suspect that the fellow had formed 
a design against my life. I communicated the suspicion 
to M. Langlade ; but he gave for answer, that I was not 
my own master, and must do as I was ordered. 

"The Indian, on his part, directed that before I left 
the house I should undress myself, declaring that my 
coat and shirt would become him better than they did 
me. His pleasure, in this respect, being complied with, 
no other alternative was left me than either to go out 
naked, or to put on the clothes of the Indian, which he 
freely gave me in exchange. His motive for thus strip- 
ping me of my own apparel, was no other, as I afterward 
learned, than this, that it might not be stained with 
blood when he should kill me. 

"I was now told to proceed; and my driver followed 
me close until I had passed the gate of the fort, when I 



Massacre at Fo7't Michilmiackinac. 121 

turned toward the spot where I knew the Indians to be 
encamped. This, however, did not suit the purpose of 
my ememy, who seized me by the arm, and drew me 
violently in the opposite direction, to the distance of 
fifty yards above the fort. Here, finding- that I was 
approaching" the bushes and sand-hills*, I determined to 
proceed no further; but told the Indian that I believed 
he meant to murder me, and that if so, he mig-ht as well 
strike where I was as at any g^reater distance. He 
replied, with coolness, that my suspicions were just, and 
that he meant to pay me in this manner for my g-oods. 
At the same time he produced a knife, and held me in a 
position to receive the intended blow. Both this, and 
that which followed, were necessarily the affair of a 
moment. By some effort, too sudden and too little 
dependent on thoug-ht to be explained or remembered, I 
was enabled to arrest his arm and g"ive him a sudden 
push, by which I turned him from me, and released 
myself from his g-rasp. This was no sooner done, than 
I ran toward the fort with all the swiftness in my 
power, the Indian following- me, and I expecting- every 
moment to feel his knife. I succeeded in my flig-ht, 
and, on entering- the fort, I saw Wenniway standing- in 
the midst of the area, and to him I hastened for protec- 
tion. Wenniway desired the Indian to desist; but the 
latter pursued me around him, making several strokes 
at me with his knife, and foaming- at the mouth, with 
rag-e at the repeated failure of his purpose. At leng-th 
Wenniway drew near to M. Lang-lade's house, and, the 
door being- open, I ran into it. The Indian followed me; 
but on my entering- the house, he voluntarily abandoned 
the pursuit. 

*Timber was felled for fuel and cultivation allowing- the 
winds to form dunes. 



122 History of Mackinac. 

'•Preserved so often and so unexpectedly, as it had 
now been my lot to be, I returned to my garret with a 
strong- inclination to believe that, through the will of 
the overruling power, no Indian enemy could do me 
hurt; but new trials, as I believed, were at hand, when, 
at ten o'clock in the evening, I was aroused from sleep 
and once more desired to descend the stairs. Not less, 
however, to my satisfaction than surprise, I was sum- 
moned only to meet Major Ethrington, Mr. Bostwick, 
and Lieutenant Lesslie, who were in the room below. 
These gentlemen had been taken prisoners, while look- 
ing at the game without the fort, and immediately 
stripped of all their clothes. They were now sent into 
the fort, under the charge of Canadians, because, the 
Indians having resolved on getting drunk, the chiefs 
were apprehensive that they would be murdered, if they 
continued in the camp. Lieutenant Jamette and 
seventy soldiers had been killed; and but twenty Eng- 
lishmen, including soldiers, were still alive. These 
were all within the fort, together with nearly three 
hundred Canadians, belonging to the canoes, etc, 

"These being our numbers, myself and others pro- 
posed to Major Ethrington to make an effort for 
regaining possession of the fort, and maintaining it 
against the Indians. The Jesuit missionary was con- 
sulted on the project; but he discouraged us by his 
representations, not only of the merciless treatment 
which we must expect from the Indians, should they 
regain their superiority, but of the little dependence 
which was to be placed upon our Canadian auxiliaries. 
Thus the fort and prisoners remained in the hands of 
the Indians, though, through the whole night, the 
prisoners and whites were in actual possession, and they 
were without the gates. 



Massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. 123 

"The whole night, or the greater part of it, was 
■passed in mutual condolence; and m}- fellow-prisoners 
shared m}- g-arret. In the morning, being again called 
down, I found my master, Wenniwa}', and was desired 
to follow him. He led me to a small house within the 
fort, where, in a narrow room, and almost dark, I found 
Mr. Ezekiel Solomons, an Englishman from Detroit, 
and a soldier, all prisoners. With these I remained in 
painful suspense as to the scene that was next to pre- 
sent itself, till ten o'clock in the forenoon, when an 
Indian arrived, and presently marched us to the lake- 
side, where a canoe appeared ready for departure, and 
in which we found that we were to embark. 

"Our voyage, full of doubt as it was, would have com- 
menced immediately, but that one of the Indians, who 
was to be of the party, was absent. His arrival 
was to be waited for, and this occasioned a ver}- long 
delay, during which we were exposed to a keen north- 
east wind. An old shirt was all that covered me. I 
suffered much from the cold, and in this extremit}-, M. 
Langlade coming down the beach. I asked him for a 
blanket, promising, if I lived, to pay him for it at any 
price he pleased; but the answer I received was this, 
that he could let me have no blanket, unless there were 
some one to be security for the payment. For myself, 
he observed, I had no longer an}- property in that 
country. I had no more to say to M. Langlade; but, 
presently seeing another Canadian, named John Cuch- 
oise, I addressed him a similar request, and was not re- 
fused. Naked as I was, and rigorous as was the weather, 
but for the blanket I must have perished. At noon our 
party was all collected, the prisoners all embarked, and 
we steered for the Isles du Castor, in Lake Michigan. 



124 History of Mackinac. 

"The soldier who was our companion in misfortune 
was made fast to a bar of the canoe, b}* a rope tied around 
his neck, as is the manner of the Indians in transport- 
ing- their prisoners. The rest were left uncontined; but 
a paddle was put into each of our hands and we were 
made to use it. The Indians in the canoe were seven in 
number; the prisoners four. I had left, as it will be 
recollected, Major Ethrington, Lieutenant Lesslie*, and 
Mr. Bostwick, at M. Lang-lade's, and was now joined in 
misery with Mr. Ezekiel Solomons, the soldier, and the 
Englishman, who had newly arrived from Detroit. This 
was on the sixth day of June. The fort was taken on 
the fourth; I surrendered myself to Wenniway on the 
fifth; and this was the third day of our distress. 

"We were bound, as I have said, for the Isles du Cas- 
tor, which lie in the rjiouth of Lake Michigan; and we 
should have crossed the lake but that a thick fog came 
on, on account of which the Indians deemed it safer to 
keep the shore close under their lee. We therefore ap- 
proached the lands of the Ottawas, and their village of 
L'Arbre Croche, already mentioned as lying about twenty 
miles to the westward of Michilimackinac, on the oppo- 
site side of the tongue of land on which the fort is built. 

"Every half-hour the Indians gave their war-whoops, 
one for every prisoner in their canoe. This is a general 
custom, by the aid of which all the Indians within 
hearing- are apprised of the number of prisoners they are 
carrying-. In this manner we reached Wagoshense (Fox 
Point), a long point, stretching westward into the lake, 
and which the Ottawas make a carrying-place, to avoid 
going round it It is distant eighteen miles from Michi- 
limackinac. After the Indians had made their war-whoop, 
as before, an Ottawa appeared upon the beach, who made 
*Also spelled Leslie. 



Massacre at Fort Michiliniackinac. 125 

sig"ns that we should land. In consequence we ap- 
proached. The Ottawa asked the news, and kept the 
Chippewas in further conversation, till we were within 
a few 3ards of the land, and in shallow water. At this 
moment, a hundred men rushed upon us from among- the 
bushes, and drag-g-ed all the prisoners out of the canoes, 
amid a terrifying shout. 

"We now believed that our last suffering's were ap- 
proaching; but no sooner were we fairly on shore, and 
on our leg-s, than the chiefs of the party advanced and 
gave each of us their hands, telling- us that they were 
our friends, and Ottawas whom the Chippewas had in- 
sulted by destroying the English without consulting 
with them on the affair. They added that what they 
had done was for the purpose of saving our lives, the 
Chippewas having been carrying us to the Isles du Cas- 
tor* only to kill and devour us. 

"The reader's imagination is here distracted by the 
variety of our fortunes, and he may well paint to him- 
self the state of mind of those who sustained them; who 
were the sport or the victims, of a series of events more 
like dreams than realities — more like fiction than truth ! 
It was not long before we were embarked again, in the 
canoes of the Ottawas, who, the same evening re-landed 
us at Michilimackinac, where they marched us into the 
fort in view of the Chippewas, confounded at beholding 
the Ottawas espouse a side opposite to their own. The 
Ottawas, who had accompanied us in sufficient numbers, 
took possession of the fort. We, who had changed 
masters, but were still prisoners, were lodged in the 
house of the commandant, and strictly guarded. 

"Early the next morning, a General Council was 
held, in which the Chippewas complained much of the 
*Beaver Islands. 



126 History of Mackuiac. 

conduct of the Ottawas, in robbing- them of their 
prisoners ; alleging- that all the Indians, the Ottawas 
alone excepted, were at war with the Eng-lish ; that 
Pontiac had taken Detroit ; that the King- of France 
had awoke, and re-possessed himself of Quebec and 
Montreal, and that the Engflish were meeting- destruc- 
tion, not only at Michilimackinac, but in every other 
part of the world. From all this they inferred that it 
became the Ottawas to restore the prisoners, and to -join 
in the war ; and the speech was followed by larg-e 
presents, being- part of the plunder of the fort, and 
which was previously heaped in the center of the room. 
The Indians rarely make their answers till the da}' after 
they have heard the arg-uments offered. They did not 
depart from their usual custom on this occasion ; and 
the Council, therefore, adjourned. 

"We, the prisoners whose fate was thus in contro- 
versy, were unacquainted, at the time, with this trans- 
action ; and therefore enjoyed a nig-ht of tolerable 
tranquillity, not in the least suspecting the reverse 
which was preparing for us. Which of the arguments 
of the Chippewas, or whether or not all were deemed 
valid by the Ottawas, I can not say, but the Council 
was resumed at an early hour in the morning, and, 
after several speeches had been made in it, the prisoners 
were sent for and returned to the Chippewas. 

"The Ottawas, who now gave us into the hands of 
the Chippewas, had themselves declared that the latter 
designed no other than to kill us, and make broth of us. 
The Chippewas, as soon as we were restored to them, 
marched us to a village of their own, situate on the 
point which is below the fort, and put us into a lodge, 
already the prison of fourteen soldiers, tied two and two, 



Massacre at Fort iMichilimackinac. 127 

with each a rope around his neck, and made fast to a 
;J)ole which might be called the supporter of the build- 
ing-. 

"I was left untied ; but I passed a night sleepless, and 
full of wretchedness. My bed was the bare ground, 
and I was again reduced to an old shirt, as my 
entire apparel ; the blanket which I had received, 
through the generosity of M. Cuchoise, having been 
taken from me among the Ottawas. when they siezed 
upon myself and the others, at Wagoshence. I was 
besides in want of food, having for two da^'s eaten 
nothing. I confess that in the canoe with the Chippe- 
was, I was offered bread — but bread with what accom- 
paniment ! They had a loaf, which they cut with the 
same knives that they had employed in the massacre — 
knives still covered with blood. The blood they 
moistened with spittle, and rubbing it on the bread, 
offered this for food to their prisoners, telling them to 
eat the blood of their countrymen. 

"Such was my situation on the morning of the 
seventh of June, in the year one thousand seven hun- 
dred and sixty-three. But a few hours produced an event 
which gave still a new color to my lot. Toward noon, 
when the great war-chief, in company with Wenniway, 
was seated at the opposite end of the lodge, my friend 
and brother, Wawatam, suddenl}^ came in. During the 
four days preceding, I had often wondered what had 
become of him. In passing by, he gave me his hand, 
but went immediate!}' toward the great chief, by the 
side of whom and Wenniway he sat himself down. The 
most uninterrupted silence prevailed, each smoking his 
pipe ; and, this done, Wawatam arose and left the 
lodge, saying to me, as he passed, 'Take courage.' 



128 History of Mackinac. 

"An hour elapsed, during- which several chiefs en- 
tered, and preparations appeared to be making- for a 
council. At length, Wawatam re-entered the lodge, 
followed by his wife, and both loaded with merchan- 
dise, which they carried up to the chiefs, and laid in a 
heap before them. Some moments of silence followed, 
at the end of which Wawatam pronounced a speech, 
every word of which, to me, was of extraordinary 
interest: — 

" 'Friends and relations, what is it that I shall say ? 
You know what I feel. You all have friends and broth- 
ers and children whom as yourselves you love: and 
you — what would you experience, did you, like me, 
behold your dearest friend, your brother ; in the condi- 
tion of a slave ; a slave, exposed every moment to insult 
and to menaces of death? This case, as you all know, 
is mine. See there [pointing- to myself], my friend and 
brother among slaves — himself a slave! 

" 'You all well know that, long- before the war beg-an, 
I adopted him as my brother. From that moment, he 
became one of my family, so that no change of circum- 
stances could break the cord which fastened us together. 
He is my brother; and because I am your relation, he 
is therefore your relation too. And how, being- your 
relation, can he be your slave ? 

" 'On the day on which the war beg-an, you were 
fearful lest, on this very account, I should reveal your 
secret. You requested, therefore, that I would leave 
the fort, and even cross the lake. I did so, but I did it 
with reluctance. I did it with reluctance, notwithstand- 
ing that you, Menehwehna (Minavavana), who had the 
command in this enterprise, g-ave me your promise that 
you would protect my friend, delivering- him from all 



Massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. 129 

dang-er, and g-iving- him safely to me. The performance 
of this promise I now claim. I come not with empty 
hands to ask it. You, Menehwehna, best know whether 
or not, as it respects yourself, you have kept your word ; 
but I bring" these g-oods to buy off every claim which 
any man among- you all may have on my brother, as his 
prisoner.' 

" Wawatam having- ceased, the pipes were ag-ain filled ; 
and, after they were finished, a further period of silence 
followed. At the end of this, Menehwehna arose and 
gave his reply : 

" ' My relation and brother,' said he, 'what you have 
spoken is the truth. We were acquainted with the 
friendship which subsisted between yourself and the 
Englishman in whose behalf you have now addressed 
us. We knew the danger of having our secret discov- 
ered, and the consequences which must follow ; and you 
say truly that we requested you to leave the fort. This 
we did out of .regard for you and your family ; for, if a 
discovery of our design had been made, you would have 
been blamed, whether guilty or not ; and you would 
thus have been involved in difficulties from which you 
could not have extricated yourself. 

" 'It is also true that I promised you to take care of 
your friend; and this promise I performed by desiring 
my son, at the moment of assault, to seek him out and 
bring him to my lodge. He went accordingly, but 
could not find him. The day after I sent him to Lang- 
lade's, when he was informed that your friend was safe; 
and had it not been that the Indians were then drinking 
the rum which had been found in the fort, he would 
have brought him home with him, according to ray 
orders. I am very glad to find that your friend has 



130 History of Mackinac. 

escaped. We accept your present ; and you may take 
him home with you.' 

"Wawatam thanked the assembled chiefs, and taking- 
me by the hand, led me to his lodg-e, which was at 
the distance of a few yards only from the prison-lodg^e. 
My entrance appeared to g'ive joy to the whole family; 
food was immediately prepared for me, and I now ate the 
first hearty meal which I had made since my capture. 
I found myself one of the family; and but that I 
had still my fears as to the other Indians, I felt ashappj- 
as the situation could allow. 

"In the course of the next mornino-, I was alarmed by 
a noise in the prison-lodge; and looking through the 
openings of the lodge in which I was, I saw seven dead 
bodies of white men dragged forth. Upon my inquiry 
into the occasion, I was informed that a certain chief, 
called by the Canadians Le Grand Sable, had not long 
before arrived from his winter's hunt; and that he, hav- 
ing been absent when the war began, and being now 
desirous of manifesting to the Indians at large his hearty 
concurrence in what they had done, had gone into the 
prison-lodge, and there, with his knife, put the seven 
men, whose bodies I had seen, to death. 

"Shortly after, two of the Indians took one of the 
dead bodies, which they chose as being the fattest, cut 
of the head, and divided the whole into five parts, one 
of which was put into each of five kettles, hung over as 
many fires, kindled for this purpose at the door of the 
prison-lodge. Soon after things were so far prepared, a 
message came to our lodge, with an invitation to Wa- 
watam to assist at the feast. 

"An invitation to a feast is given by him who is the 
master of it. Small cuttings of cedar-wood, of about 



Massacre at Fort Michilwiackinac. 131 

four inches in leng^th, supply the place of cards; and 
the bearer, by word of mouth, states the particulars. 
Wawatam obe3'ed the summons, taking" with him, as 
is usual, to the place of entertainment, his dish and 
spoon. After an absence of about half an hour, he 
returned, bring^ing- in his dish a human hand, and a 
larg"e piece of flesh. He did not appear to relish the 
repast, but told me that it was then, and always had 
been, the custom among" all the Indian nations, when 
returning from war, or on overcomming- their enemies, 
to make a war-feast from among" the slain. This, he 
said, inspired the warrior with courag"e in attack, and 
bred him to meet death with fearlessness. 

"In the evening" of the same day, a larg"e canoe, such 
as those which come from Montreal, was seen advanc- 
ing" to the fort. It was full of men, and I disting"uished 
several passengers. The Indian cry was made in the 
village, a general muster ordered, and, to the number of 
two hundred, they marched up to the fort, where the 
canoe was expected to land. The canoe, suspecting 
nothing, came boldly to the fort, where the passengers, 
as being English traders, were seized, dragged through 
the water, beaten, reviled, marched to the prison-lodge, 
and there stripped of their clothes, and confined. 

"Of the English traders that fell into the hands of 
the Indians, at the capture of the fort, Mr. Tracy was 
the only one who lost his life. Mr. Ezekiel Solomons 
and Mr. Henry Bostwick were taken by the Ottawas, 
and, after the peace, carried down to Montreal, and 
there ransomed. Of ninety troops, about seventy were 
killed ; the rest, together with those of the posts in the 
Bay des Puants, and at the river Saint Joseph, were also 
kept in safety by the Ottawas, till the peace, and then 



132 History of Mackimic. 

either freely restored, or ransomed at Montreal. The 
Ottawas never overcame their disg-ust at the neglect 
with which they had been treated, in the beginning- of 
tha war, by those who afterward desired their assistance 
as allies." 

THE ESCAPE OF HENRY AND OTHERS. 
The part the Ottawas played at Michilimackinac will 
readily explain Indian character. They had rescued 
Henry and his companions from their captors and bore 
them back to the fort, of which they took possession, 
with the other prisoners, to the dismay of the Chippe- 
was. It was not for any good will to the prisoners, but 
out of revenge because the Chippewas made the attack 
without consulting or informing them. They held a 
council and gave up Henry and some of the prisoners, 
but the officers and several soldiers were retained and 
carried to L'Arbre Croche by the Ottawas. Here 
Father Janois influenced the Indians to treat them with 
kindness. From that place Etherington sent a letter by 
Father Janois to Major Gladwin at Detroit, and one to 
Lieut. Gorell at Green Bay by an Ottawa Indian. 
These letters both contained brief accounts of the 
massacre and an entreaty for assistance. The following 
was addressed to Gorell : 

" MiCHiUMACKiNAC, June 11, 1763. 
"Dear Sir,— This place was taken by surprise on the fourth 
instant by the Chippewas (Ojibwas), at which time Lieutenant 
Jamette and twenty men were killed, and all the rest taken 
prisoners ; but our good friends the Ottawas have taken L/ieu- 
tenant lyesslie, me, and eleven men out of their hands, and have 
promised to reinstate us again. You'll therefore, on the receipt 
of this, which I send by a canoe of Ottawas, set out with all 
your garrison, and what English traders you have with you, 
and come with the Indian who gives you this, who will 
conduct you safe to me. You must be sure to follow the 



The Escape of Henry and Others. 133 

instrucution you receive from the bearer of this, as you are 
by no means to come to this post before you see me at the vil- 
lage, twenty miles from this. ... I must once more begf 
you'll lose no time in coming- to me ; at the same time be very 
careful, and always be on your g-uard. I long^ much to see you 
and am, dear sir. 

•' Your most humble servant, 

"Geo. Ethrington. 
"J. Gorell, Royal Americans.'''' 

The following- is from Parkman : "The Conspiracy 
of Pontiac," Vol. 2, p. 336, 337. "A copy of the orig-i- 
nal was procured from the State Paper Office of 
London." 

"Michilimackinac, 12 June, 1763. 

"Sir: — Notwithstanding that I wrote you in my last that all 
the savag-es were arrived, and that every thing seemed in per- 
fect tranquility, yet, on the 2nd instant, the Chippewas, who 
live in a place near this fort, assembled to play ball as they 
have done almost every day since their arrival. They played 
from morning ; then throwing their ball close to the gate, and 
observing Lieut. Leslie and me a few paces out of it, they came 
behind us, seized and carried us into the woods. 

"In the mean time the rest rushed into the Fort, where they 
found their squaws whom they had previously planted there, 
with their hatchets hid under their blankets, which they took, 
and in an instant killed Lieut. Jamet and fifteen rank and file, 
and a trader named Tracy. They wounded two, and took the 
rest of the garrison, five (seven, Henry) of whom they have 
since killed. 

" They made prisoners of all the English Traders, and robbed 
them of everj' thing they had; but they offered no violence to 
the persons or property of any of the Frenchmen. 

" When the massacre was over, Messrs. Langdale and Farle 
the interpreter, came down to the place where Lieut. Leslie and 
me were prisoners; and on their giving themselves as security 
to return us when demanded, they obtained leave for us to go to 
the Fort, under a guard of savages, which gave time, by the 
assistance of the gentlemen above mentioned, to send for the 
Cutaways, who came down on the first notice, and were very 
much displeased at what the Chippeways had done. Since the 
arrival of the Cutaways they have done everything in their 



134 History of Mackinac. 

power to serve us, and with what prisoners the Chippeways had 
given them, and what they have bought, I have now with nie 
Lieut. Leslie and eleven privates ; and the other four of the 
Garrison who are yet living, remain in the hands of the Chippe- 
ways. 

" The Chippeways who were superior in number to the 
Ottaways, have declared in Council to them that if they do not 
remove us out of the Fort, they will cut off all communication to 
this Post, by which means all the Convoys of Merchants from 
Montreal, La Baye, St. Joseph, and the upper posts would 
perish. But if the news of your post being attacked (which they 
say was the reason why they took up the hatchet) be false, and 
you can send us a strong reinforcement, with provisions, &c. 
accompanied by some of your savages, I believe the post might 
be re-established again. 

"Since this affair happened, two canoes arrived from Montreal, 
which put in my power to make a present to the Ottaway 
nation, who very well deserve anything that can be done for 
them. 

"I have been very much obliged to Messrs. Langdale and 
Farl6, the interpreter, as likewise to the Jesuit, for the many 
good offices they have done us on this occasion. The Priest 
seems inclinable to go down to your post for a day or two, which 
I am very glad of, as he is a very good man, and had a great 
deal to say with the savages, hereabout, who will believe every 
thing he tells them on his return, which I hope will be soon. 
The Cutaways say they will take Lieut. Leslie, me, and the 
eleven men which I mentioned before were in their hands,' up to 
their village, and there keep us, till they hear what is doing at 
your Post. They have sent this court for that purpose. 

'•I refer you to the Priest for the particulars of this melon- 
choly affair and am, Dear Sir, 

Yours very sincerely, 
(Signed) GEO. Etherington. 

" To Major Gladwin. 

"P. S. The Indians that are to carry the Priest to Detroit 
will not undertake to land him at the Fort, but at some of the 
Indian villages near it, so you must not take it amiss that he 
does not pay you the first visit. And once more I beg that 
nothing may stop your sending of him back, the next day after 
his arrival, if possible, as we shall be at a great loss for want of 
him, and I make no doubt that you will do all in your power to 



The Escape of Henry and Others. 135 

make peace as you see the situation we are in, and send up pro- 
visions as soon as possible, and ammunition, as what we had 

was pillaged by the savages, 

"Adieu, Geo. Etherington." 

"When Father Janois reached Detroit he found the 
place closely besieged, and consequently no assistance 
could come from that quarter; but at Green Bay the 
case was otherwise. With seventeen men, Lieutenant 
Gorell had taken possession of that post in 1761, and, 
by a system of g-ood manag"ement, had succeeded in 
allaying- the hostilit}^ of the savag^es and securing the 
friendship of at least a part of the tribes around him. 
On receiving- Ethrington's letter, Gorell, told the In- 
dians what the Ojibwas had done, and that he and his 
soldiers were going- to Michilimackinac to restore order, 
adding- that, during- his absence, he commended the 
fort to their care. Presents were distributed among- 
them, and advantage taken of every circumstance that 
could possibly be made to favor the English cause ; so 
that when the party was ready to embark, ninetr 
warriors proposed to escort the garrison on its way. 

"Arriving- at L'Arbre Croche, where Captain Ethring-- 
ton. Lieutenant Lesslie, and eleven men were yet 
detained as prisoners, Gorell received an intimation that 
the Ottawas intended to disarm his own men also; but 
he promptly informed them that such an attempt would 
meet with a vigorous resistance, and the Indians 
desisted. Several days were now spent in holding- 
councils. The Indians from Green Bay requested the 
Ottawas to set their prisoners at liberty, to which the 
latter at length assented. Thinking- only of how they 
might escape the presence of their troublesome and 
treacherous foes, they prepared to depart. One diffi- 
culty, however, yet remained. The Ojibwas had de- 



136 History of Mackinac. 

clared that they would prevent the Eng-lish from pass- 
ing- down to Montreal, and ag-ain they had recourse to a 
Council. A reversion of feeling-, as we shall soon see, 
had already taken place among- the Ojibwa chiefs ; and 
at length, thoug-h reluctantly, they yielded the point. 
On the eig-hteenth day of July, escorted by a fleet of 
Indian canoes, the Eng-lish left L'Arbre Croche ; and on 
the thirteenth day of Aug-ust all arrived in safety at 
Montreal, leaving- not a British soldier in the reg-ion of 
the lakes, except at Detroit." 

Let us g-o back now. Hear Henry to the end of his 
story: 

"In the morning- of the ninth of June, a General 
Council was held, at which it was ag-reed to remove to 
the island of Michilimackinac, as a more defensible 
situation in the event of an attack by the Eng-lish. The 
Indians had begun to entertain apprehensions of a want 
of strength. No news had reached them from the Pot- 
awatomies, in the Bay des Puants, and thej- were 
uncertain whether or not the Monomins would join 
them. They even feared that the Sioux would take the 
English side. This resolution fixed, the}' prepared for 
a speedy retreat. At noon the camp was broken up, 
and we embarked, taking- with us the prisoners that 
were still undisposed of. On our passag-e, we en- 
countered a g;ale of wind, and there were some appear- 
ances of dang-er. To avert it, a dog-, of which the legs 
were previously tied together, was thrown into the lake 
— an offering designed to soothe the angry passions of 
some offended Manitou. 

"As we approached the island, two women in the 
canoe in which I was, began to utter melancholy and 
hideous cries. Precarious as my condition still re- 



The Escape of Henry and Others. 137 

mained, I experienced some sensations of alarm from 
those dismal sounds, of which I could not then discover 
the occasion. Subsequently I learned that it is custo- 
mary for the women, on passing- near the burial-places 
of relations, never to omit the practice of which I was 
now a witness and by which they intend to denote 
their g"rief. 

"By the approach of evening- we reached the island 
in safety, and the women were not long- in erecting our 
cabins. In the morning- there was a muster of the 
Indians, at which there were found three hundred and 
fifty fig-hting- men. In the course of the day, there 
arrived a canoe from Detroit, with embassadors, who 
endeavored to prevail on the Indians to repair thither, 
to the assistance of Pontiac ; but fear was now the 
prevailing- passion, A g-uard was kept during- the day, 
and a watch by night, and alarms were very frequently 
spread. Had an enemy appeared, all the prisoners 
would have been put to death ; and I suspected that, as 
an Englishman, I should share their fate. 

"Several days had now passed, when, one morning, a 
continued alarm prevailed, and I saw the Indians run- 
ning in a confused manner toward the beach. In a 
short time I learned that two large canoes from Mon- 
treal were in sight. 

"All the Indian canoes were immediately manned, 
and those from Montreal were surrounded and seized as 
they turned a point, behind which a flotilla had been 
concealed. The goods were consigned to a Mr. Levy, 
and would have been saved if the canoe-men had called 
them French property ; but they were terrified and 
disguised nothing. 

"In the canoes was a large proportion of liquor — a 



138 Hislory of jV/ackiiiac. 

dangerous acquisition, and one which threatened disturb- 
ance among- the Indians, even to a loss of their dearest 
friends. Wawatam, always watchful of my safety, no 
sooner heard the noise of drunkenness which, in the 
evening, did not fail to begin, than he represented to 
me the danger of remaining in the village, and owned 
that he could not himself resist the temptation of join- 
ing his comrades in the debauch. That I might escape 
all mischief, he therefore requested that I would accom- 
pan}^ him to the mountain, where I was to remain 
hidden till the liquor should be drank. We ascended 
the mountain accordingly. After walking more than 
half a mile, we came to a large rock, at the base of 
which was an opening, dark within, and appearing to 
be the entrance of a cave.* Here Wawq^tam recommend- 
ed that I should take up my lodging, and by all means 
remain till he returned. 

"On going into the cave,* of which the entrance was 
nearly ten feet wide, I found the further end to be 
rounded in its shape, like that of an oven, but with a 
further aperture, too small, however, to be explored. 
After thus looking around me, I broke small branches 
from the trees and spread them for a bed, then wrapped 
myself in my blanket and slept till daybreak. On 
awaking, I felt myself incommoded by some object upon 
which I lay, and removing it, found it to be a bone. 
This I supposed to be that of a deer, or some other 
animal, and what might very naturally be looked for in 
the place in which I was ; but when daylight visited my 
chamber I discovered, with some feelings of horror, that 
I was lying on nothing less than a heap of human bones 
and skulls, which covered all the floor! 

"The day passed without the return of Wawatam, 

*Skull Cave. 




The Escape of Henry and Others,. 139 

and without food. As nig-ht approached, I found my- 
self unable to meet its darkness in the charnel-house, 
which, nevertheless, I had viewed free from uneasiness 
during- the day. I chose, 
therefore, an adjacent 
bush for this nig-ht's lodg"- 
ing", and slept under it as 
before; but in the morning- 
I awoke hung-ry and dis- 
pirited, and almost envy- 
ing- the dry bones, to the 
view of which I returned. 
At leng-th the sound of a 
foot reached me, and m}^ 
Indian friend appeared, 
making- many apolog-ies for his long- absence, the cause 
of which was an unfortunate excess in the enjoyment of 
his liquor. 

"This point being- explained, I mentioned the extra- 
ordinary sig-ht that had presented itself in the cave to 
which he had commended my slumbers. He had never 
heard of its existence before, and, upon examining the 
cave tog-ether, we saw reason to believe that it had been 
anciently filled with human bodies. 

"On returning- to the lodg-e, I experienced a cordial 
reception from the family, which consisted of the wife 
of my friend, his two sons, of whom the eldest was 
married, and whose wife and a daug-hter of thirteen 
years of ag-e completed the list. 

" Wawatam related to the other Indians the adventure 
of the bones. All of them expressed surprise at hear- 
ing it, and declared that they had never been aware of 
the contents of this cave before. After visiting it, 
which they immediately did, almost every one offered a 



140 History of Mackinac. 

different opinion as to its history. Some advanced, that 
at a period when the wateres overflowed the land (an 
event which makes a disting-uished fig-ure in the history 
of their world), the inhabitants of this island had fled 
into the cave, and been there drowned; others, that those 
same inhabitants, when the Hurons made war upon 
them (as tradition says they did), hid themselves in the 
cave, and, being- discovered, were there massacred. 
For myself, I am disposed to believe that this cave was 
an ancient receptacle of the bones of prisoners sacrificed 
and devoured at war-feasts. I have always observed 
that the Indians pay particular attention to the bones 
of sacrifices, preserving- them unbroken, and depositing' 
them in some place kept exclusively for that pu.rpose. 

"A few days after this occurrence, Menehwehna 
(Menavavana), whom I now found to be the great chief of 
the villag-e of Michilimackinac, came to the lodg-e of my 
friend, and when the usual ceremony of smoking- was 
finished, he observed that Indians were now daily arriv- 
ing- from Detroit, some of whom had lost relations or 
friends in the war, and who would certainly retaliate on 
any Eng-lishman they found, upon which account his 
errand was to advise that I should be dressed like an 
Indian, an expedient whence I mig-ht hope to escape all 
future insult. 

"I could not but consent to the proposal; and the 
chief was so kind as to assist my friend and his family 
in effecting that very day the desired metamorphosis. 
My hair was cut off, and my head shaved, with the 
exception of a spot on the crown of about twice the 
diameter of a crown-piece. My face was painted with 
three or four different colors, some parts of it red, and 
others black. A shirt was provided for me, painted 
with vermilion mixed with grease. A large collar of 



The Escape of Henry and Others. 141 

wampum was put around my neck, and another sus- 
pended on my breast. Both my arms were decorated 
with large bands of silver above the elbow, besides 
several smaller ones on the wrists ; and my legs were 
covered with mitasses, a kind of hose, made, as is the 
favorite fashion, of scarlet cloth. Over all I was to 
wear a scarlet mantle or blanket, and on my head a 
large bunch of feathers. I parted, not without some 
regret, with the long hair which was natural to it, and 
which I fancied to be ornamental ; but the ladies of the 
family, and of the village in general, appeared to think 
my person improved, and now condescended to call me 
handsome, even among Indians. 

"Protected in a great measure by this disguise, I felt 
myself more at liberty than before; and the season 
being arrived in which my clerks from the interior were 
to be expected, and some part of my property, as I had a 
right to hope, recovered, I begged the favor of Wawa- 
tam that he would enable me to pay a short visit to 
Michilimackinac. He did not fail to comply, and I 
succeeded in finding my clerks ; but, either through the 
disturbed state of the country, as they represented to be 
the case, or through their misconduct, as I had reason 
to think, I obtained nothing ; and nothing, or almost 
nothing, I now began to think would be all that I 
should need during the rest of my life. To fish and to 
hunt, to collect a few skins and exchange them for 
necessaries, was all that I seemed destined to do and to 
acquire for the future. 

"I returned to the Indian village, where at this time 
much scarcity of food prevailed. We were often for 
twenty-four hours without eating, and when in the 
morning we had no victuals for the day before us, the 
custom was to black our faces with grease and charcoal, 



142 History of Mackinac. 

and exhibit through resig-nation a temper as cheerful as 
if in the midst of plenty. A repetition of the evil, how- 
ever, soon induced us to leave the island in search of 
food, and according"ly we departed for the Bay of 
Boutchitaony, distant eig-ht leagues, and where we found 
plenty of wild fowl and fish." 

Leaving- that bay, Henr3', with his friend Wawatam 
and family, came to St. Martin's Island, where, in the 
enjoyment of an excellent and plentiful supply of food, 
they remained until the twenty-sixth of Aug-ust. "At 
this time," continues the writer, "the autumn being- at 
hand, and a sure prospect of increased security from 
hostile Indians afforded, Wawatam proposed g-oing to 
his intended wintering- ground. The removal was a 
subject of the greatest joy to myself ; on account of the 
frequent insults to which I had still to submit from the 
Indians of our band or village, and to escape from 
which I would freely have gone almost anywhere. At 
our wintering-ground we were to be alone ; for the 
Indian families in the countries of which I write sep- 
arate in the winter season for the convenience as well of 
subsistence as of the chase, and reassociate in the spring 
and summer. 

"In preparation, our first business was to sail for 
Michilimackinac, where, being arrived, we procured 
from a Canadian trader, on credit, some trifling articles, 
together with ammunition and two bushels of maize. 
This done, we steered directly for Lake Michigan. At 
L'Arbre Croche we stopped one day, on a visit to the 
Ottawas, where all the people, and particularly O'ki'- 
no'chu'ma'ki, the chief — the same who took me from 
the Chippewas^ — behaved with great civility and kind- 
ness. The chief presented me with a bag of maize." 

From L'Arbre Croche they proceeded directly to the 



The Escape of Henry and Others. 143 

mouth of the river Aux Sables, which, Henry tells us, 
is "on the southern side of the lake," and as they 
hunted along- their way, Henry enjoyed a personal free- 
dom of which he had long- been deprived, and became as 
expert in the Indian pursuits as the Indians themselves. 
The winter was spent in the chase. "By degrees," 
says Henry, "I became familiarized with this kind of 
life, and had it not been for the idea of which I could 
not divest my mind, that I was living- among- savag-es, 
and for the whispers of a lingering- hope that I should 
one day be released from it — or if I could have forgotten 
that I had ever been otherwise than as I then was — I 
could have enjoyed as much happiness in this as in any 
other situation." 

As spring approached the hunters began their prepara- 
tions for returning- to Michilimackinac, but their faces 
were no sooner turned toward the scene of the massacre 
than all beg-an to fear an attack from the English, on 
account of the constant dreams of the more aged 
women. Henry labored, but in vain, to allay their 
fears, but on the twenty-fifth of April the little party 
embarked in their canoes. 

Henry writes: "At La Grande Traverse we met a 
larg-e party of Indians, who appeared to labor, like 
ourselves, under considerable alarm, and who dared 
proceed no further lest they should be destroyed by the 
English. Frequent councils of the united bands were 
held, and interrog-ations were continually put to myself 
as to whether or not I knew of any design to attack 
them, I found that they believed it possible for me to 
have a foreknowledg-e of events, and to be informed by 
dreams of all things doing- at a distance. 

"Protestations of my ignorance were received with 
but little satisfaction, and incurred the suspicion of a 



144 History of Mackinac. 

design to conceal my knowledg-e. On this account, 
therefore, or because I saw them tormented with fears 
which had nothing- but imagination to rest upon, I told 
them at length that I knew there was no enemy to 
insult them, and that they might proceed to Michili- 
mackinac without danger from the English. I further, 
and with more confidence, declared that if ever my 
countrymen returned to Michilimackinac, I would recom- 
mend them to their favor, on account of the good treat- 
ment which I had received from them. Thus encour- 
aged, they embarked at an early hour the next morning. 
In crossing the bay, we experienced a storm of thunder 
and lightning. 

"Our port was the village of L'Arbre Croche, which 
we reached in safety, and where we staid till the follow- 
ing day. At this village we found several persons who 
had lately been at Michilimackinac, and from them we 
had the satisfaction of learning that all was quiet there. 
The remainder of our voyage was therefore performed 
with confidence. 

"In the evening of the twenty-seventh we landed at 
the fort, which now contained only two French traders. 
The Indians who had arrived before us were very few 
in number, and by all who were of our party I was very 
kindly used. I had the entire freedom both of the fort 
and camp. 

"Wawatam and myself settled our stock, and paid 
our debts ; and, this done, I found that my share of 
what was left consisted in a hundred beaver-skins, sixty 
raccoon-skins, and six otter, of the total value of about 
one hundred and sixty dollars. With these earnings of 
my winter's toil, I proposed to purchase clothes, of 
which I was much in need, having been six months 
without a shirt ; but on inquiring into the prices of 



The Escape of Henry and Olhers. 145 

goods, I found that all my funds would not g-o far. I 
was able, however, to buy two shirts, at ten pounds of 
beaver each ; a pair of Icggins, or pantaloons, of scarlet 
cloth, which, with the ribbon to g-arnish them, fashion- 
ably, cost me fifteen pounds of beaver ; a blanket, at 
twenty pounds of beaver; and some other articles at 
proportionable rates. In this manner my wealth was 
soon reduced, but not before I had laid in a good stock 
of ammunition and tobacco. To the use of the latter I 
had become much attached through the winter. It was 
my principal recreation, after returning- from the chase ; 
for my companions in the lodg-e were unaccustomed to 
pass their time in conversation. Among- the Indians 
the topics of conversation are but few, and limited, for 
the most part, to the transactions of the da}', the num- 
ber of animals which they have killed, and of those 
which have escaped their pursuit, and other incidents of 
the chase. Indeed, the causes of taciturnity among- the 
Indians may be easily understood if we consider how 
many occasions of speech which present themselves to 
us are utterly unknown to them, — the records of history, 
the pursuits of science, the disquisitions of philosophy, 
the s\'stems of politics, the business and the amusements 
of the da}', and the transactions of the four corners of 
the world. 

"Eig-ht days had passed in tranquillity when there 
arrived a band of Indians from the Bay of Saguenaum. 
They had assisted at the seige of Detroit, and came to 
muster as many recruits for that service as they could. 
For my own part, I was soon informed that, as I was the 
only Englishman in the place, they proposed to kill me 
in order to g-ive their friends a mess of English broth, to 
raise their courage. 

10 



146 History oj Mackinac. 

"This intellig-ence was not of the most agreeable 
kind, and, in consequence, of receiving- it, I requested my 
friend to carry me to the Sault de Sainte Marie, at which 
place I knew the Indians to be peaceably inclined, and 
that M. Cadotte enjoyed a powerful influence over their 
conduct. They considered M. Cadotte as their chief, 
and he was not only my friend, but a friend to the 
Eng-lish. It was by him that the Chippewas of Lake 
Superior were prevented from joining- Pontiac. 

" Wawatam was not slow to exert himself for my pres- 
ervation, but, leaving- Michilimackinac in the nig-ht, 
transported myself and all his lodge to Point St. Ig-nace, 
on the opposite side of the strait. Here we remained till 
daylight, and then went into the Bay of Boutchitaony, 
in which we spent three days in fishing and hunting, 
and where we found plenty of wild fowl. Leaving the 
bay we made for the Isle aux Outardes, where we were 
obliged to put in on account of the wind's coming ahead. 
We proposed sailing for the Sault the next morning. 

"But when the morning came Wawatam's wife com- 
plained that she was sick, adding that she had had bad 
dreams, and knew that if we went to the Sault we should 
all be destroyed. To have argued at this time against 
the infallibility of dreams would have been extremely 
unadvisable, since I should have appeared to be guilty, 
not only of an odious want of faith, but also of a still 
more odious want of sensibility to the possible calamities 
of a family which had done so much for the alleviation 
of mine. I was silent, but the disappointment seemed to 
seal my fate. No prospect opened to console me. To 
return to Michilimackinac could only insure my destruc- 
tion, and to remain at the island was to brave almost 
equal danger, since it lay in the direct route between the 
fort and the Missisaki, along which the Indians from 



The Escape oj Henry and Others. 147 

Detroit were hourly expected to pass on the business of 
their mission. I doubted not but, taking- advantage of 
the solitary situation of the family, they would carry 
into execution their design of killing me. 

"Unable therefore to take any part in the direction of 
our course, but a prey at the same time to the most 
anxious thoughts as to my own condition, I passed all 
the day on the highest part to which I could climb of a 
tall tree, and whence the lake on both sides of the island 
lay open to my view. Here I might hope to learn at the 
earliest possible moment the approach of canoes, and by 
this means be warned in time to conceal myself. 

" On the second morning I returned, as soon as it was 
light, to my watch-tower, on which I had not been long, 
before I discovered a sail, coming from Michilimackinac. 
The sail was a white one, and much larger than those 
usually employed by the northern Indians. I therefore 
indulged a hope that it might be a Canadian canoe on its 
voyage to Montreal, and that I might be able to prevail 
upon the crew to take me with them, and thus release 
me from all my troubles. 

" My hopes coti tinned to gain strength; for I soon per- 
suaded myself that the manner in which the paddles 
were used on board the canoe was Canadian, and not 
Indian. My spirits were elated; but disappointment 
had become so usual with me, that I could not suffer 
myself to look to the event with any strength of confi- 
dence. Enough, however, appeared at length to demon- 
strate itself to induce me to descend the tree and repair 
to the lodge with my tidings and schemes of liberty. 
The family congratulated me on the approach of so fair 
an opportunity of escape, and my father and brother (for 
he was alternately each of these) lit his pipe and pre- 



148 Histoty of Mackinac. 

sented it to me, saying-: ' My son, this may be the last 
time that ever you and I shall smoke out of the same 
pipe ! I am sorry to part with you. You know the 
affection which I have always borne you, and the dan- 
g-ers to which I have exposed myself and family to 
preserve you from your enemies, and I am happy to And 
that my efforts promise not to have been in vain.' At 
this time a boy came into the lodg-e, informing- us that 
the canoe had come from Michilimackinac, and was 
bound to the Sault de Sainte Marie. It was manned by 
three Canadians, and was carrying- home Madame 
Cadotte, wife of M. Cadotte, already mentioned. 

"My hopes of going- to Montreal being- now dissipated, 
I resolved on accompanying- Madame Cadotte, with her 
permission, to the Sault. On communicating my wishes 
to Madame Cadotte, she cheerfully acceded to them. 
Madame Cadotte, as I have already mentioned, was an 
Indian woman of the Chippewa nation, and she was very 
generally respected. 

"My departure fixed upon, I returned to the lodge, 
where I packed up my wardrobe, consisting of my two 
shirts, pair of leggins, and blanket. Besides these, I 
took a gun and ammunition, presenting what remained 
further to my host. I also returned the silver arm-bknds 
with which the family had decorated me the year before. 

"We now exchanged farewells, with an emotion 
entirely reciprocal. I did not quit the lodge without the 
most grateful sense of the many acts of goodness which 
I had experienced in it, nor without the sincerest respect 
for the virtues which I had witnessed among its mem- 
bers. All the family accompanied me to the beach, and 
the canoe had no sooner put off than Wawatam com- 
menced an address to the Ki'chi' Muni 'to, beseeching 



The Escape of Henry and Othe7'S. 149 

liim to take care of me, his brother, till we should next 
meet. This, he had told me, would not be long", as he 
intended to return to Michilimackinac for a short time 
only, and then would follow me to the Sault. . We had 
proceeded to too great a distance to allow of our hearing- 
his voice, before Wawatam had ceased to offer up his 
prayers, 

" Being now no longer in the society of Indians, I laid 
aside the dress, putting- on that of a Canadian — a molton 
or blanket coat over my shirt, and a handkerchief about 
my head, hats being very little worn in this country. 

"At daybreak on the second morning of our voyage 
we embarked, and presently perceived several canoes 
behind us. As they approached, we ascertained them 
to be the fleet bound for the Mississaki, of which I had 
been so long in dread. It amounted to twenty sail. On 
coming up with us and surrounding our canoe, and amid 
g-eneral inquiries concerning the news, an Indian chal- 
lenged me for an Englishman, and his companions sup- 
ported him by declaring that I looked very like one; but 
I affected not to understand any of the questions which 
they asked me, and Madame Cadotte assured them that 
I was a Canadian whom she had brought on his first 
voyage from Montreal. 

"The following day saw us safely landed at the Sault, 
where I experienced a generous welcome from M. 
Cadotte. There were thirty warriors at this place, 
restrained from joining in the war only by M. Cadotte's 
influence. Here for five days I was once more in posses- 
sion of tranquility; but on the sixth a young Indian 
came into M. Cadotte's, saying that a canoe full of war- 
riors had just arrived from Michilimackinac; that they 
had inquired for me, and that he believed their inten- 



150 History of Mackinac. 

tions to be bad. Nearly at the same time a message 
came from the g-ood chief of the villag-e, desiring- me to 
conceal myself until he should discover the views and 
temper of the strangers. A garret was a second time 
my place of refuge; and it was not long before the 
Indians came to M. Cadotte's. My friend immediately 
informed Mut'chi'ki'wish, their chief , who was related 
to his wife, of the design imputed to them of mischief 
against myself. Mutchikiwish frankly acknowledged 
that they had had such a design, but added that, if dis- 
pleasing to M. Cadotte, it should be abandoned. He 
then further stated that their errand was to raise a party 
of warriors to return with them to Detroit, and that it 
had been their intention to take me with them. 

"In regard to the principal of the two objects thus dis- 
closed, M. Cadotte proceeded to assemble all the chiefs 
and warriors of the village; and these, after deliberating 
for some time among themselves, sent for the strangers, 
to whom both M. Cadotte and the chief of the village 
addressed a speech. In these speeches, after recurring 
to the designs confessed to have been entertained against 
myself, who was now declared to be under the immediate 
protection of all the chiefs, by whom any insult I might 
sustain would be avenged, the embassadors were per- 
emptorily told that they might go back as they came, 
none of the young men of this village being foolish 
enough to join them. 

"A moment after, a report was brought that a canoe 
had just arrived from Niagara. As this was a place 
from which every one was anxious to hear news, a mes- 
sage was sent to these fresh strangers, requesting ihem 
to come to the council. They came accordingly, and, 
being seated, a long silence ensued. At length, one of 



The Escape oj Henry and Others. 151 

them, taking-up a belt of wampum, addressed himself thus 
to the assembly: 'My friends and brothers, I am come 
with this belt from our g-reat father, Sir William John- 
son. He desired me to come to you, as his embassador, 
and tell you that he is making- a great feast at Fort 
Niagara; that his kettles are all ready, and his fires lit. 
He invites you to partake of the feast, in common with 
your friends, the Six Nations, which have all made peace 
with the English. He advises you to seize this oppor- 
tunity of doing" the same, as you cannot otherwise fail of 
being- destroyed; for the English are on their march with 
a great army, which will be joined by different nations 
of Indians. In a word, before the fall of the leaf they 
will be at Michilimackinac, and the Six Nations with 
them.' 

"The tenor of this speecn greatly alarmed the Indians 
of the Sault, who, after a very short consultation, agreed 
to send twenty deputies to Sir William Johnson, at 
Niag-ara. This was a project highly interesting- to me, 
since it afforded me the means of leaving the country. I 
intimated this to the chief of the villag-e, and received 
his promise that I should accompany the deputation. 

"Very little time was proposed to be lost in setting- 
forward on the voyage; but the occasion was of too much 
mag-nitude not to call for more than human knowledge 
and discretion; and preparations were according-ly made 
for solemnly invoking- and consulting- the Grkat Tur- 
tle. In this, the first thing to be done, was the building 
of a large house or wigwam, within which was placed a 
species of tent, for the use of the priest, and reception of 
the spirit. The tent was formed of moose-skins, hung 
over a frame-work of wood. Five poles, or rather pil- 
lars, of five different species of timber, about ten feet in 



152 History of Mackinac. 

heig-ht, and eight inches in diameter, were set in a circle 
of about four feet in diameter. The holes made to 
receive them were about two feet deep; and the pillars 
being" set, the holes were filled up again with the earth 
which had been dug out. At the top, the pillars were 
bound together by a circular hoop, or girder. Over the 
whole of this edifice were spread the moose-skins, cover- 
ing it at top and round the sides, and made fast with 
thongs of the same; except that on one side a part was 
left unfastened, to admit of the entrance of the priest. 

"The ceremonies did not commence but with the 
approach of night. To give light within the house, 
several fires were kindled round the tent. Nearly the . 
whole village assembled in the house, and myself among 
the rest. It was not long before the priest appeared, 
almost in a state of nakedness. As he approached the 
tent, the skins were lifted up as much as was necessary 
to allow of his creeping under them on his hands and 
knees. His head was scarcely inside, when the edifice, 
massy as it has been described, began to shake; and the 
skins were no sooner let fall than the sounds of numer- 
ous voices were heard beneath them; some yelling, some 
barking as dogs, some howling like wolves; and in this 
horrible concert were mingled screams and sobs, as of 
despair, anguish, and the sharpest pain. Articulate 
speech was also uttered, as if from human lips, but in a 
tongue unknown to any of the audience. 

"After some time, these confused and frightful noises 
were succeeded by a perfect silence; and now a voice not 
heard before seemed to manifest the arrival of a new 
character in the tent. This was a low and feeble voice, 
resembling the cry of a young puppy. The sound was 
no sooner distinguished, than all the Indians clapped 



The Escape of Henry and Others. 153 

their hands for joy, exclaimmg" that this was the Chief 
Spirit — the Turtle — the spirit that never lied! Other 
voices, which they had discriminated from time to time, 
they had previously hissed, as recog"nizing them to 
belong- to evil and lying" spirits, which deceived man- 
kind. New sounds came from the tent. During* the 
space of half an hour, a succession of songs were heard, 
in which a diversity of voices met the ear. From his 
first entrance, till these songs were finished, we heard 
nothing in the proper voice of the priest; but now he 
addressed the multitude, declaring the presence of the 
Great Turtle, and the spirit's readiness to answer such 
questions as should be proposed. 

"The questions were to come from the chief of the 
village, who was silent, however, till after he had put a 
large quantity of tobacco into the tent, introducing it at 
the aperture. This was a sacrifice, offered to the spirit; 
for spirits are supposed, by the Indians, to be as fond 
of tobacco as themselves. The tobacco accepted, he 
desired the priest to inquire, — Whether or not the 
English were preparing to make war upon the Indians? 
and, whether or not there were at Fort Niagara a large 
number of English troops. These questions having 
been put by the priest, the tent instantly shook; and for 
some seconds after, it continued to rock so violently that 
I expected to see it leveled with the ground. All this 
was a prelude, as I supposed, to the answers to be given; 
but a terrific cry announced, with sufficient intelligibil- 
ity, the departure of the Turtle. 

"A quarter of an hour elapsed in silence, and I waited 
impatiently to discover what was to be the next incident 
in this scene of imposture. It consisted in the return of 
the spirit, whose voice was again heard, and who now 



154 History of Mackinac. 

delivered a continued speech. The language of the 
Great Turtle, like that which we had heard before, 
was wholly unintelligible to every ear, that of the priest 
excepted ; and it was therefore, not till the latter gave 
us an interpretation, which did not commence before 
the spirit had finished, that we learned the purport of 
this extraordinary communication. 

"The spirit, as we were now informed by the priest, 
had, during his short absence, crossed Lake Huron, and 
even proceeded as far as Fort Niagara, which is at the 
head of Lake Ontario, and thence to Montreal. At Fort 
Niagara he had seen no great number of soldiers ; but, 
on decending the St. Lawrence as low as Montreal, he 
he had found the river covered with boats, and the boats 
filled with soldiers, in number like the leaves of the 
trees. He had met them on their way up the river, 
coming to make war upon the Indians. 

"The chief had a third question to propose ; and the 
spirit without a fresh journey to Fort Niagara, was able 
to give it an instant and most favorable answer. ' If,' 
said the chief, 'the Indians visit Sir William Johnson, 
will they be received as friends ? ' 

" ' Sir William Johnson,' said the spirit (and after the 
spirit, the priest), ' Sir William Johnson will fill their 
canoes with presents: with blankets, kettles, guns, 
gunpowder, and shot, and large barrels of rum, such as 
the stoutest of the Indians will not be able to lift ; and 
every man will return in safety to his family.' At this, 
the transport was universal ; and, amid the clapping of 
hands, a hundred voices exclaimed, ' I will go too! I 
will go too! ' 

"The questions of public interest being resolved, in- 
dividuals were now permitted to seize the opportunity 



The Escape of Henry and Others. 155 

of inquiring" into the condition of their absent friends, 
and the fate of such as were sick. I observed that the 
answers given to these questions allowed of much lati- 
tude of interpretation. 

"The Great Turtle continued to be consulted till 
near midnight, when all the crowd dispersed to their 
respective lodg^es. 

"I was on the watch, throug"h the scene I have de- 
scribed, to detect the particular contrivances by which the 
fraud was carried on ; but such was the skill displayed 
in the performance, or such my deficiency of penetration, 
that I made no discoveries, but came away, as I went, 
with no more than those general surmises which will 
naturally be entertained by every reader." 

Henry accompanied the Indian deputation, and 
reached Fort Niagara in safety, where he was received 
in the most cordial manner by Sir William Johnson. 

You will doubtless be interested to know the fate of 
Minavavana, or the Grand Saulteur who led the Ojibwas 
at the massacre of Michilimackinac. The following 
note is from J. Carver, Esq., an English g-entleman who 
visited Michilimackinac in the year 1766, three years 
after the massacre : 

"The first I accosted were Chippewas, inhabiting- 
near the Ottowan lakes, who received me with g-reat 
cordiality, and shook me by the hand in token of friend- 
ship. At some little distance behind these stood a chief, 
remarkably tall and well made, but of so stern an aspect 
that the most undaunted person could not behold him 
without feeling some deg-ree of terror. He seemed to 
have passed the meridian of life, and by the mode in 
which he was painted and tattooed, I discovered that he 
was of high rank. However, I approached him in a 



156 History of Mackinac, 

courteous manner, and expected to have met with the 
same reception I had done from the others ; but, to my 
great surprise, he withheld his hand, and looking- fierce- 
ly at me, said in the Chippewa tongue, 'Caurin 
nishishin saganosh;' that is, 'The English are no good.' 
As he had his tomahawk in his hand, I expected that 
this laconic sentence would have been followed by a 
blow, to prevent which I drew a pistol from my belt, 
and holding it in a careless position, passed close by 
him, to let him see I was not afraid of him. 

"I learned soon after, from the other Indians, that 
this was a chief called by the French the Grand 
Saulteur, or the Great Chippewa Chief ; for they de- 
nominate the Chippewas, Saulteurs. They likewise 
told me that he had been always a steady friend to that 
people, and when they delivered up Michilimackinac to 
the Knglish, on their evacuation of Canada, the Great 
Saulteur had sworn that he would ever remain the 
avowed enemy of its new possessors, as the territories 
on which the fort is built belonged to him. 

" Since I came to England I have been informed that 
the Grand Saulteur, having rendered himself more and 
more disgustful to the English by his inveterate enmity 
toward them, was at length stabbed in his tent, as he 
encamped near Michilimackinac, by a trader." (Car- 
ver's Travels.) 

A little more than a year after the massacre, Michili- 
mackinac was occupied by the coiireiirs de bois and such 
Indian bands as chose to make it a temporary residence; 
but after the treaty with the Indians, Captain Howard, 
with a detachment of troops, was sent by Col. Bradstreet 
to take possession of it, and "once more the cross of St. 



Importance of Michilimackinac. 157 

Georg-e was a rallying- point, and the protection of the 
adventurous traders." 

IMPORTANCE OF MICHILIMACKINAC. 

After a treaty of peace had been made with the In- 
dians, and the fort reoccupied by Capt. Howard's forces, 
confidence was restored and the fur trade resumed. 

Sir William Johnson wrote to Gen'l Gage. "Johnson 
Hall, Jany. 15th, 1767." Extract. "As Michilimaki- 
nak seems now to be our principal mart of trade and 
that for sevl reasons it should be well and Duly Inspect- 
ed I think a Comissr there very necessary and shall be 
glad of your thoughts about it, which if agreeable to 
mine, I shall remove one of the Comissr to that place 
early in the spring." * * * (p. 835 Doc. 
Hist. N. Y. ) 

Reply of "Gen'l Gage to Sir Wm. Johnson, New York, 
Jany 25th, 1767." 

Extract. "Michilimakinak seems to be the most 
material Post we have, and certainly more necessary for 
a Commissary than any other. 

"Sir Henry Moore shall be acquainted with your 
desire concerning the Traders being obliged to take 
passes. 

"It is reported that all the Traders who came this 
year to Missilimackinac have been permitted to ramble 
wherever they chose." * * * Tho's. Gage." 

"Sir. Wm. Johnson, Bart. Johnson's Hall. (p. 873 
Doc. Hist. N. Y.) 

"For the next thirteen years the history of the post 
appears to have been the usual military routine with the 
annual gathering and departure of the fur-traders, until 
the garrison was removted to Michilimackinac Island in 
1780-8i. 



Impoi'tancc of Alichiliniackiiiac. 159 

1780. Michilimackiuac Island and the present Fort 
Mackinac ("Michilimackinac") 

The following- year, 1764, after the massacre at South 
Fort Michilimackinac, the French began to move to the 
island and the present settlement may be said to date 
from that period. Althoug"h the scene of action, during- 
the war of 1775-83, was far from the region of the straits 
of Mackinac the island had its part in that revolution. 
It was selected on account of its commanding" position, 
adaptability for defense, with a small force, and strateg-ic 
importance, and garrisoned. 

From fear of attack by the United States forces, and 
"as a measure of safety," Major A. S. DePeyester com- 
manding (South) Fort Michilimackinac, and under 
instructions, with: "in 1779, a party of British officers 
passed over from the point of the peninsula to the island 
of Michilimackinac to reconnoiter, with the intention of 
removing the fort thither. After selecting a location 
they asked permission of the Indians to occupy it. Some 
time elapsed before their consent could be obtained; con- 
sequently the removal w^s not effected until the ensuing- 
summer. A government house and a few other build- 
ing's were erected on the site of the present villag-e, and 
the troops took possession on the 15th of July, 1780. 

"The removal of the innabitants from the main land 
to the island was gradual, and the fort which was built 
on the site of the present one, was not completed until 
1783. 

On the 4th of October, 1779, Major Patrick Sinclair, 
Lieut. Governor, arrived and assumed command of 
(South) Michilimackinac, relieving- Major De Peyster, 
who left, Oct. 15th, on His Majesty's Sloop of War, 

"Welcome," bound for Detroit. 

11 



160 History of Mackinac. 

There was, many years, packed away with my old 
books and papers, the orig-inal parchment deed"^ of the 
Island of Michilimackinac, from the Indians, in 1781, to 
King- Georg-e III. It is missing-, and was presented to 
me through Ronald McLeod of the Astor House, who 
owned the -Fur Co.'s papers and books. Maj. Sinclair 
sent to the island, Nov. 6, 1779, the sloop of war " Wel- 
come," with workmen and the timbers of a house to be 
erected for them to live in. The government house was 
erected in the garden, below the present fort, on the 
level, nearly in front of where the stable now stands. 

February and March, 1780, when the ice was firm, the 
Catholic church, on the south shore, was taken down, 
the logs hauled over, and the church re-built on the "old 
cemetery" lot on Market street, and (old) Church street. 
A g-overnment wharf was built of log- cribs, filled with 
stone, in the bay in the front of the present south sally- 
port. On the 4th of November Lieut. Governor and 
Commander Sinclair moved over to the island and estab- 
lished his headquarters. 

During the winter of 1780-81 the sloops "Welcome," 
"Angelica," "Archangel," and schooner "De Peyster" 
laid up at the island in the harbor. A block house was 
completed east of the government house, on the present 
school lot, and in Januar}- the crews of the vessels were 
quartered therein. 

During the fall of 1780 the sash, doors and casings and 
other wood work of many building were sent over in 
vessels to the island; and in the following winter the 
logs and timbers taken down were hauled over on the 
ice. Pine and cedar logs and timbers were also whip- 
sawed at Pine river, on the north shore, and trans- 

*See p. 162. 



Fort Moved to Michilimackinac Island. 161 

ported. When spring- came, the traders pulled down 
their building-s and rafted them to the island, where 
the logs were again put up. Their provisions and goods 
were sent in boats. The entire movement of the troops 
was not completed until late in the summer of 1781. 

The stone quarters for officers, block houses, maga- 
zines, and walls of the fort appear to have been con- 
structed of the hard limestone formation of the Island, 
quarried near by, with an idea of the security and perma- 
nency of the British Empire. Wells were dug for water 
supply, and there was a system for elevating water 
through lead pipes (bore 1^ inch diameter) from springs 
at the foot of the hill, west of the fort. Water is now 
forced up by steam pump from the same source into a 
reservoir in the second story of the north block house, 
and from thence distributed about the fort. Water was 
also conveyed through log piping- to the stores, ware- 
houses and dwellings of the fur company. Apple, cherry 
and plum orchards were planted, with currants and 
g-ooseberries in the gardens. All accounts show that 
they raised the finest of fruits and veg-etables. Some of 
the apple trees are there to this day, and can be found 
at St. Ignace and vicinity, on Bois Blanc, Drummond's 
and St. Joseph's islands. All of these fruits, and pears, 
raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and hardy vege- 
tables grow to perfection in this region. The British 
continued to improve the fort and strengthen the posi- 
tion until 1796, when their troops were withdrawn to 
St. Joseph's Island. The ditches, without the stockade 
were not then completed and no work has since been 
done on them. The site, except for barracks, is only 
tenable in connection with the higher Fort George 
("Holmes") plateau. Mackinac's elevations and 



162 History of Mackinac. 

strategic positions, collectively, have been declared to be, 
" by nature, a perfect Gibralter." See p. 170. 
WHAT A BRITISH COMMANDER THOUGHT. 

Excerpt letter. "R*. McDouall, Lt. Col. Command- 
ing- Micliilimackinac and Dependencies, 2d May, 1815." 
Bulg-er Papers, 1815, Wis. Hist. Coll., Vol. XIII, p. 143. 

"My Dear BuIvGEr: — * * * Our neg-ociators * * * 
have shown themselves profoundly ignorant of the con- 
cerns of this part of the Empire. I am prostrated with 
grief at the restoration of this fine island — a fortress 
built by nature for herself." 

DEED OF MICHILIMACKINAC ISLAND. 

By tl)C$e Presents we the following chiefs Kitchie 
Negon or Grand Sable, Pouanas, Koupe and Magous- 
seihigan in behalf of ourselves and all others of our 
Nation the Chipiwas who have or can lay claim to the 
herein mentioned Island, as being 
their representatives and Chiefs, by 
and with mutual consent do surren- 
der and yield up into the hands of 
Lieut. Governor Sinclair for the 
Behalf and use of His Majesty 
George the Third of Great Britain, 
France and Ireland King Defender 
of the Faith, &c &c &c His Heirs 

Kitchie Negon. 

His mark. Exccutors, Administrators forever 

the Island of Michilimackinac or as 
it is called by the Canadians La 
Grosse Isle (situate in the strait which 
joins the Lakes Huron and Michigan) 
and we do hereby make for ourselves 
and our Posterity a renunciation of all 
claims in future to said Island; We pouanas" 







/ 

^ 



jUcfu ij Micliiliinackinac Island. 163 

als > acknowledge to have received by 
command of His Excellency Frederick 
Haldimand Esqr. Governor of the Pro- 
vince of Quebec, General & Commander 
in Chief of all His Majesty's Forces in 
Canada &c &c &c from the said Lieuten- 
ant Governor Sinclair on his Majesty's 
Behalf, the sum of Five Thousand 
Mark of PouANAs Pouuds Ncw York currency being" the 

& Kausse the same i r ^i 

nation but different adequate and compleat value or the 

Chiefs. ^ 

before mentioned Island of Michilimack- 
inac, and have signed two deeds of 
this tenor and date in the presence of 
Mathew Lessey, John McNamara, 
David Rankin, Henry Bostic, Benja- 
min Lyons, Etienne Campion, and P. 
Antoine Tabeau the underwritten wit- 
nesses, one of which deeds is to remain 
with the Governor of Canada, and the 
other to remain at this Post to certify Mark of 

the same, and we promise to preserve magousseigan. 

^y\ in our Village a belt of wampum 

[ /^ Seven feet in Length to perpet- 

/^ uate secure and be a lasting 

' "" memorial of the said Transaction 




"VV 



to our Nation forever hereafter, 

and that no defect in Deed from 

Oka. want of Law Forms or any other 

shall invalidate the same. In witness whereof We the 

above mentioned Chiefs do set our Hands & Seals this 

Twelfth day of May in the year of our Lord one thou- 



164 History of Mackinac. 

sand seven Hundred and Eig^lity one and in the twent}- 
First 3'ear of His Majesty's Reig-n. 

[.signed] 
Mathew IvEssev Benjamin Lyon 

David Rankin Ett Campion 

Henry Bostic P. An. Tabeau 

Patt Sinclair 

Lt. Gov. & Commandant . 

John Mompesson 

Capt. Comg. a Detachment of the King's Regt. 

R. B. Brooke 

Lieutenant Kino's or Eighth Reo-iment. 

John Robert McDonald 

Ensign King's or Eighth Regiment. 

HISTORICAL RESUME AND LIST OF OFFICERS, FRENCH AND 

BRITISH, AT MICHILIMACKINAC. 
1634. John Nicolet passes through the straits con vo3^ed to Green 

Bay. 
1665. Nicholas Perrot, interpreter and officer, passes the straits 

to Green Bay. 
I669. Father Allouez, S. J., in the straits, at St. Martin's Islands, 

St. Ig-nace, and Michilimackinac Island bound for Green 

Bay. 
1669-71. Father Dablon, S. J., at Michilimackinac Island. 
1669-71. Father Jaques Marquette, S. J., at Michilimackinac 
Island. 

1671. Mission at St. Ignace du Michilimackinac founded hy 
Marquette by direction of Dablon. 

1672. Dec. 1, Joliet arrived at St. Ignace. 

1673. Marquette and Joliet start on their voyage of discovery. 
1679. Robert Cavelier de La Salle, with Henry DeTonty, Du 

Lhut and Father Hennepin arrive, Aug. 27, at St. Ignace, 

on the "Griffon," and spend some days. 
1680-81. Du Ivhut winters at St. Ignace.. 
1681. M. de Villeraye commanding Michilimackinac. 
1684. M. de la Durantaye commanding Michilimackinac. 
1684. M. de la Valtrie acting commander of Michilimackinac, 

while Du Lhut and Perrot, with Ottawas, are in I^a 

Barre's campaign against the Iroquois. 



List of French and Bfitish Officers. 165 

1685. M. de la Durantaj'e commanding Michilimackinac and 

dependencies. 
1688. Baron La Hontan at Michilimackinac. 
1690. M. de la Pore lyouvignv commanding- Michilimackinac 

and dependencies. 

1694. M. de la Motte Cadillac commanding- Michilimackinac and 
dependencies. 

1695. Cadillac advises an expedition ag-ainst the Iroquois that 
takes the field, and many prisoners are brought back by 
the Michilimackinac Indians. Frontenac orders nine 
posts, among them Green Bay and Sault Ste.' Marie, 
placed .subject to the command of Cadillac. A treatj' of 
peace made by Le Baron, a Huron chief, -with the Iroquois. 
Thirty Iroquois scalps brought to Michilimackinac, and 
thirty-two prisoners, by the Potawatomies and other 
Algonquin Indians. 

1701. Cadillac leaves Michilimackinac (St. Ignace) to found 
Detroit and Fort Pontchartrain, taking many Indians 
with him. Perrot and Father Enjalron at Michilimacki- 
nac. 

1702-3. The Hurons and more Ottawas go to Detroit. 

1705. The Jesuits burn their church at St. Ignace and move, 
with most of the French, to Quebec. 

1712. Fort Michilimackinac regarrisoned by M. de Louvigny 
and command. 

1721. Father Charlevoix visits Michilimackinac. 

1728. M. de Lignery's expedition from South Michilimackinac. 

1730. M. de Buisson comd'g (South) Michilimackinac. 

1743. M. de Blainville, Commandant, Michilimackinac. 

1744. M. de Vivchevet, Commandant, Michilimackinac. 

1745. Louis de la Corne, Capt. and King's Commandant, Michi- 
limackinac. 

1747. M. de Noyelle. jr.. Commandant, Michilimackinac. 

1748. M. Jacques Legardeur St. Pierre, Commandant, Michili- 
mackinac. 

-1750. M. Duplessis Faber, Capt. and King's Commandant, 
Michilimackinac. 

1753-54. M. Beaujeu de Villemonde, Capt. and King's Com- 
mandant, Michilimackinac. 

1754-55. Mons Herbin, Capt. and King's Commandant, Michili- 
mackinac. 

1758-60. M. Beaujeu de Villemonde, Capt. and King's Com- 
mandant. Michilimackinac. 



Michilitnackinac Under the United States. 167 

1761. Capt. Belfour, 80th Regt., comd'g Michilimackinac. 

1761. Oct. 21st, L/ieut. Leslie, 60th Royal Amer., comd'g Michi- 
litnackinac. 

1763, Geo. Etherington, Capt. 60th Royal Amer., comd'g Michi- 
limackinac. 

1763. Massacre at Michilitnackinac (now "Mackinaw South 
Shore "), June 4th. 

1764. Capt. Howard, comd'g Michilimackinac. 

1774-79. A. S. de Peyster, Major, comd'g Michilitnackinac and 
dependencies. 

1779-82. Patrick Sinclair, Major, comd'g Michilimackinac and 
dependencies. 

July I5th, 1780, Major Sinclair transferred part of his 
troops to Michilimackinac (" Mackinac ") Island and there 
established the 3d Fort Michilimackinac; and, Nov. 4th, 
following, Sinclair himself removed to the island perma- 
nently. 

1781. John Mompesson, Capt. comd'g detachment of King's 
Reg't; R. B. Brooks, Lieut. King's or 8th Reg't; John 
Robert McDonall, Ensign King's or 8th Reg't. 

1782-87. Daniel Robertson, Capt., comd'g Michilimackinac and 
dependencies to May 10th, 1787. 

1791-96. Edward Charleton, Capt. 5th Regt. Foot, comd'g Mich- 
ilimackinac. 

1796. Occupation of Michilimackinac Island by the troops of the 
United States. 

MICHILIMACKINAC UNDER THE UNITED STATES. 
At the close of 1775-83 the independence of the United 
States of America was acknowledged by Great Britain 
and by the terms of the Treaty of Paris, September 3, 
1783, the post of Michilimackinac ("Mackinac"), with 
others on the lakes, became a part of the Republic. On 
various pretexts the British retained possession of this 
and other forts until after the treaty promulg-ated on the 
29th of February, 1796, in which it was stipulated that 
all British troops should be withdrawn from posts within 
the boundaries b}^ June 1, 1796. By a treaty between 
the United States and the Potawatomies, Chippewas, 



168 History of Mackinac. 

Ottawas, Shawnees, Delawares and other Indian tribes, 
at Greeville, Ohio, Aug-ust 3, 1795, the Indians ceded the 
fort of Michilimackinac and Island, with the adjacent 
main land, wherever the title of the Indians had been 
exting-uished by g-rants and g-ifts to the French and 
English g-overnments, and a piece of land north of Mich- 
ilimackinac Island, on the main shore, to measure six 
miles along- the strait between Lakes Huron and Michi- 
g-an, extending- three miles back from the water. The 
Chippewas also included Bois Blanc Island as a volun- 
tary g-ift. 

1796. The first United States troops to occupy Fort 
Michilimackinac, on the island, was the command of 
Major Henry Burbeck, who, with one company of Artil- 
lerists and Engineers, and a company of the 1st Infantry 
and three officers arrived in October, 1796, and took pos- 
session. In 1802, Rev. David Bacon, Presbyterian, who 
had been for two years a missionary at Detroit, sent by 
the Connecticut Board of Missions, was assigned to 
Mackinac Island to preach and teach. He was the first 
Protestant clergyman to the island, but was re-called in 
August, 1804. Until 1812 matters appear to have been 
conducted without disturbance, the only excitement 
being the business of the Fur Company, and the annual 
arrival and departure of the "Brigade Commanders,'' 
with their men, boats and outfits, to the various .trapping 
and trading stations. 

LIST OF UNITED STATES ARMY OFFICERS STATIONED AT FORT 
MICHILIMACKINAC FROM 1790 TO 1812, A. D. 

Henry Burbeck, Major, Artillerists and Engineers, 1796. 
Ebenezer Massay, Lieut., Artillerists and Eng-ineers, 1796. 
Abner Prior, Captain. 1st Infantry, 1796. 
John Michael, Lieut., 1st Infantry, 1796. 



War of i8i2-ij. 169 

John Wiley, 1st L,ieut., Artillerists and Engineers, 1800. 
, Thomas Hunt, Major, 1st Artillerists and Engineers, 1802. 
Josiah Dunham, Capt., Artillerists and Engineers, 1802. 
Francis LeBarron, Surgeon's Mate, 1802. 
Jacob Kingsbury, Lieut. Colonel, 1st Infantry, 1804. 
Jonathan Eastman, 1st Lieutenant, Artillerists, 1807. 
Lewis Howard, Captain, Artillerists, 1808. Died January 13, 

1811. 
Porter Hanks, 1st Lieutenant, Artillerists, 1808. 
Archibald Darragh, 2d Lieutenant, Artillerists, 1808. 
Sylvester Day, Garrison Surgeon's Mate, 1810. 

BRITISH OFFICERS 1812-14-1:^. 

1812, July 17. Charles Roberts, Capt., comd'g. 
1814. Robert McDouall, Lt. Col., comd'g Michilimackinac and 
dependencies. Dr. Mitchell, Surgeon B. Army. 

WAR OF 1812-1:;. 

June 19, 1812, in accordance with declarative Act of 
Congress, President Madison proclaimed war with Great 
Britain. 

During- that war the British g-enerall}^ g-ot the worst 
of it on the sea, and the United States on the land, until 
the final battle of New Orleans (foug-ht January 8th, 
1815, after peace had been concluded) when the British 
forces were defeated. Without noting what occurred 
elsewhere we shall confine ourselves to the operations at 
Mackinac Island and vicinity. 

In the spring" of 1812 Fort Mackinac was all within 
the inner intersecting- lines of the three block-houses and 
the slope in front very much as it is now; there were no 
buildingfs without the lines. The only approaches were 
through the south and north arched sally-ports, each 
provided with a portcullis, that could be instantly 
dropped. They were, both, additionally secured by 
g-ates, double planked, that could be closed at any time 
during" the night or day. Strong", squared, cedar "pal- 



170 History of Mackinac. 

isades" pickets, were set vertically on the walls and in 
the ground intersecting- the inner lines of the block- 
houses. They were about 10 feet high, pointed at the 
top, pierced at intervals, by two rows of loop-holes (one- 
half on two adjoining" pickets) for musketry, ang-led 
from within outwards so that the fire could be delivered, 
standing or kneeling- at the enemy in any direction 
Near the block-houses strong, three-pronged, sharp, iron 
spikes, were set in the apexes of the pickets and like 
spikes and pointed hooks wherever the ground approaches 
seemed to favor scaling parties. The block-houses were 
armed with iron carronades that protected the picket 
walls of the fort and iron g-uns were planted at conven- 
ient places so as to rake the hill-sides and other 
approaches. 

Lieut. Hanks commanding Fort Mackinac and the 
people of the island generally, had reason to expect a 
declaration of war and measures for safety were taken. 
The British commander at St. Joseph's Island, Capt. 
Charles Roberts, 10th Royal Veteran Battalion, g-ot the 
first notification. It is believed it reached Roberts 
through the agents of the fur companies, as the traders 
of the Mackinac company were mostly English, and 
both companies were unfriendl}^ to the United States. 
He was advised in the message from General Brock, his 
superior, to attack the fort of Michilimackinac at once, 
as the best means of preserving his own position. Capt. 
Roberts received the message July 15th. On the morn- 
ing of the 16th he embarked for Michilimackinac, on the 
N. W. Fur Co 's ship, "Caledonia," with two iron six 
pounders, ten batteaux and seventy canoes. His force 
consisted of 42 regulars and 4 officers, 260 Canadians, 
572 Chippewas and Ottawas, 56 Sioux. 48 Winnebagoes, 



Siu'7'ender of Michilimackinac. 171 

and 39 Menomonies, being- 306 white men and 718 
Indians, all told 1021. 

At 3 o'clock A. M., July l7th, they arrived at the north- 
west bay, facing- St. Ig-nace, and began to debark. The 
Canadians attached ropes to the g-uns and hauled one of 
them to the top of the hill commanding- the fort. The 
other g-un was broug-ht over in the same way and planted 
in the rear of the fort, just before daybreak. At 11:30 
A. M. an officer with a flag- of truce, approached and 
demanded the surrender of the fort. The official report 
of Lieut. Hanks will g-ive the cause and reasons. 

Copy of the official report of Lieut. Porter Hanks, to 
General Hull, announcing- the surrender of Fort Michili- 
mackinac, July 17th, 1812, "to his Britannic Majesty's 

forces:" 

"Detroit, August 12th, 1812. 

" Sir — I take the earliest opportunity to acquaint Your Excel- 
lency of the surrender of the garrison of Michilimackinac, under 
my command, to his Britannic Majesty's forces under the com- 
mand of Captain Charles Roberts, on the I7th ultimo, the partic- 
ulars of which are as follows: On the 16th, I was informed by 
the Indian interpreter that he had discovered from an Indian 
that the several nations of Indians then at St. Joseph (a British 
garrison, distant about forty miles ) intended to make an immedi- 
ate attack on Michilimackinac. 

" I vv^as inclined, from the coolness I had discovered in some of 
the principal chiefs of the Ottawa and Chippewa nations, who 
had but a few days before professed the greatest friendship for 
the United States, to place confidence in this report. 

"I immediately called a meeting of the American gentlemen 
at that time on the island, in which it was thought proper to 
dispatch a confidential person to St. Joseph to watch the motions 
of the Indians. 

"Captain Michael Dousman, of the militia, was thought the 
mc^t suitable for this service. He embarked about sunset, and 
met the British forces within tenor fifteen miles of the island, 
by whom he was made prisoner and put on his parole of honor. 
He was landed on the island at daybreak, with positive direc- 



172 ' History of Mackinac. 

tions to give me no intellig-ence whatever. He was also 
instructed to take the inhabitants of the village, indiscrimin- 
ately, to a place on the west side of the island where their 
persons and property should be protected by a British gua.rd, but 
should they go to the Fort, they would be subject to a general 
massacre by the savages, which would be inevitable if the garri. 
son fired a gun. This information I received from Dr. Day, who 
was passing through the village when every person was flying 
for refuge to the enemy. I immediately, on being informed of 
the approach of the enemy, placed ammunition, etc., in the Block 
houses; ordered every gun charged, and made every preparation 
for action. About 9 o'clock I could discover that the enemy were 
in possession of the heights that commanded the Fort, and one 
piece of their artillery directed to the most defenseless part of 
the garrison. The Indians at this time were to be seen in great 
numbers in the edge of the woods. 

"At half past 11 o'clock the enemy sent in a flag of truce, 
demanding a surrender of the Fort and island to his Britannic 
Majesty's forces. This, Sir, was the first intimation I had of 
the declaration of war; I, however, had anticipated it, and was 
as well prepared to meet such an event as I possibly could have 
been with the force under my command, amounting to 57 efi^ec- 
ive men, including officers. Three American gentlemen, who 
were prisoners, were permitted to accompany the flag: from 
them I ascertained the strength of the enemy to be from nine 
hundred to one thousand strong, consisting of regular troops, 
Canadians and savages; that thej' had two pieces of artillery, 
and were provided with ladders and ropes for the purpose of 
scaling the works, if necessary. After I had obtained this 
information, I consulted my officers, and also the American gen- 
tlemen present, who were very intelligent men; the result of 
which was, that it was impossible for the garrison to hold out 
against such a superior force. In this opinion I fully concurred, 
from the conviction that it was the only measure that could 
prevent a general massacre. The Fort and garrison were 
accordingly surrendered. 

"The enclosed papers exhibit copies of the correspondence 
between the officer commanding the British forces and myself 
and of the articles of capitulation. This subject involved ques- 
tions of a peculiar nature; and I hope. Sir, that iny demands and 
protests will meet the approbation of my government. I cannot 
allow this opportunity to escape without expressing my obliga- 



Surrender of Michilimackiiiac. 173 

tion to Doctor Sylvester Day, for the service he rendered me in 
'Conducting' this correspondence. 

"In consequence of this unfortunate affair, I beg leave, Sir, to 
demand that a Court of Inquiry may be ordered to investigate 
all the facts connected with it; and I do further request, that the 
court may be specially directed to express their opinion on the 
merits of the case. 

" I have the honor. Sir, 

****** 
"PORTER HANKS, 

'''■Lieutenant of Artillery. 
" His Exellency General Hull, 

'■'■ Conimanding the N . W. Ariny.'' 
P. S. "" * " It may be also remarked that one hundred and 
fifty Chippewas and Ottawas joined the British forces two days 
after the capitulation. P. H." 

CAPITULATION. 

By the terms of that instrument, agreement between 
Captain Charles Roberts, commanding- his Britannic 
Majest3''s forces, and Lieut. Porter Hanks, commanding 
those of the United States of America, the fort and 
island were to be surrendered and the troops allowed to 
march out with the honors of war, and then deliver 
their arms. They were to be sent to United States 
stations as paroled prisoners of war, on their honor, not 
to light until exchanged. All private propert}^ of in- 
dividuals was to be respected and the vessels in the 
harbor, with their cargoes. All citizens of the United 
States who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the 
British King were allowed to leave the island within 
one month from the date of the surrender. 

Lieut. Hanks had but fifty-seven effective men and 
five sick men and a drummer boy. Taking into con- 
sideration the odds against him and the fact that he did 
not know that war existed, or had been declared, also 
the unfriendly disposition of the Fur Companies, coup- 
led with the temper of the Indians, whom the Fur 



174 History of Mackinac. 

Companies influenced and larg-ely controlled, resistance 
would have been hopeless and fatal. 

The other officers besides Lieut. Hanks surrendered 
and paroled, were 2d Lieut. Archibald Darrah and Dr. 
Sylvester Day, Garrison Surg-eon's Mate. Dr. Day had 
quarters without the fort, in the villag-e, in a house on 
Market street, at the head of "Old" Church street; the 
lot now belong-s to the Donnelly estate. Capt. Michael 
Dousman, whom Lieut. Hanks dispatched to watch the 
motions of the Indians, and was captured by Roberts, 
was an ag-ent of the South West Fur Company, of which 
John Jacob Astor was president. Mr. Dousman had in 
the winter sent Wm. Aikins and John Drew to trade 
and purchase furs of the Lake Superior Indians. He 
heard they had returned to Sault Ste. Marie, and judg-ed 
from the actions of the Mackinac Indians, there was 
cause for their nonappearance at the island. When 
Mr. Dousman returned to the island he called at the 
house of Mr. Ambrose Davenport and notified him, next 
on Dr. Day, and in turn, the citizens. Dr. Day 
went immediately to the fort. The people all gathered 
at the "Distillery," for refug-e, where the British, after 
landing-, placed a g-uard. The "Distillery" was near 
the Indian cemetery, under the bluff to the west of the 
villag-e. The three g-entlemen, prisoners, referred to by 
Lieut. Hanks, and who accompanied the flag- of truce, 
were John Dousman, Samuel Abbott and Ambrose R. 
Davenport. 

At that time the villag-e was small and compact. 
The houses were one-story log- structures roofed with 
bark, except the two-storied (Dr. Mitchell) residence* 
with mansard roof, now 1895 standing, on Market street. 
There were, in the harbor, nine small vessels, each with 

*Demolished in 1897. 



Surrender of Michilimackinac. 175 

an averag"e crew of five or six men. Two other vessels 
arrived after the surrender, loaded with furs. All the 
building- lots, g^ardens and g-overnment inclosure were 
fenced, for protection, by high cedar pickets, firmly set 
in the ground, that gave the town a weird and foreign 
aspect. Many stumps of pickets can be traced, on divid- 
ing- lines, to this day, and some shortened on&s are still 
standing. 

After the surrender the citizens were assembled at the 
g-overnment house to have the oath of alleg-iance to the 
British Crown administered, which most of them 
willingly took. Messrs. Samuel Abbott, Stone, Bost- 
wick, Davenport and Dousman brothers, refusing to 
subscribe to the oath, were sent away with the soldiers. 
Michael Dousman was allowed to remain neutral. 

BRITISH OCCUPATION OF THE CAPTURED FORT MICHILIMACK- 
INAC AND ISLAND. 

The British troops held the fort and island until the 
summer of 1815, after the close of the war. They con- 
structed, armed, and equipped the strong earthwork and 
out-works on the "Heights above Michilimackinac," 
which they named "Fort George," in compliment to 
their king. The citizens of the island were compelled 
to assist in building that redoubt. In the center of the 
oblong, within, a pit was excavated, over which was 
erected a square block- house and magazine made of 
cedar logs hewed. There were two bomb-proof look- 
outs in advance, right and left of the gateway, connect- 
ed with the fort by covered, underground ways. In 
advance of these, on the edge of the hill, each facing 
southward and westward, gun platforms, mounted with 
iron cannon, that covered the lower fort, and raked all 
the approaches. The face of the earthwork within the 



176 Histoiy of Mackinac. 

moat was set with three rows, interlaced, of sharpened, 
pointed cedar stakes, inclined in as many angles, so 
arrang-ed as to render it about impossible tor an enemy 
to g-et to the top of the parapet alive. There were iron 




BLOCK HOUSR. njRECTRT) 17S0. SHOWING PALISADES. 

g"uns mounted within the fort; the slope without the 
ditch was cleared of all obstructions, and the trees on 
the plateau below felled. The plateau in rear of 
the earthwork was also cleared and used as a drill and 
parade g-round. 



1814. A FLEET SAILS TO MICHILIMACKINAC. 

Althoug-h the British had captured the island key of 
the straits, without bloodshed, they were in constant 
fear of attack from the land and naval forces of the 
United States. 

After the memorable naval battle near the head of 



A Fleet Sails to Michilimackinac. 177 

Lake Erie between Perrj and Barclay, Sept. 10th, 1813, 
where the entire British fleet of six vessels was cap- 
tured, or destroyed, the tide had turned and the chances 
of invasion were imminent. 

April, 1814, an expedition was proposed to capture 
Michilimackinac and destroy certain vessels ; the enemy 
were said to be constructing-, at Gloucester, on Matcha- 
dash Bay, southeastern extremity of Lake Huron. In 
accordance with orders issued June 2d, following-, a fleet 
of vessels was fitted out consisting- of U. S. sloops of 
war, " Niag-ara" and "Lawrence," each twenty g-uns, 
and the smaller schooners, "Tig-ress," "Detroit," "Cale- 
donia," "Scorpion," and others, Capt. Sinclair (com- 
modore), on board, with a land force of seven hundred 
and fifty officers and men. Lieut. Col. Crog-han,- com- 
manding-. Ambrose R. Davenport, of Mackinac Island, 
was quartermaster and g-uide. 

They sailed July 3d, and entered Lake Huron the 12th 
instant, and made for the entrance of Matchadash Bay. 
It was the larg-est and strong-est fleet that had ever 
ridden the waters of the lake. Continuous fog's delayed 
them, and, not having- a pilot, the many shoals and 
reefs at the inlet of the bay threatened sore destruction. 
It takes an expert sailor, with the best modern charts, 
to enter Georg-ian Bay in good, clear weather. 

Deeming- the entrance unsafe the squadron sailed for 
the head of the lake. Then it was decided to leave part 
of the fleet to cruise about the island, and with the rest 
of them to g-o to St. Joseph's, and destroy that fort 
before g-oing- to Michilimackinac. If they had assailed 
the Island first, it is thoug-ht, it mig-ht have been taken 
(as it occurred in 1812), without firing- a shot, as the 
enemy had only one small company in the fort. The 



178 History of Mackinac. 

delay allowed the British time to fortify and secure 
Canadian and Indian allies, which led to the subsequent 
defeat of the United States invading- forces. Col. Cro- 
g-han arrived, with the detached expedition, at St. 
Joseph's Island, July 20th, and burned the fort but left 
the town and N W. Fur Co.'s warehouses intact. 
Whilst there, wind bound, he captured that company's 
schooner, "Mink," bound up from Mackinac Island to 
Sault Ste, Marie loaded with flour. From parties on 
the "Mink " he learned the iiour was to be transported 
to Fort Williams, by the schooner Perseverence then 
waiting- above the falls. 

Lieut. Turner, with a naval party, was dispatched to 
capture the schooner, and, if possible, to get her below 
the falls. Maj. Holmes, with regulars, was in com- 
mand, intending to get possession of the fort of Sault 
Ste. Marie and destroy it. 

Lieutenant Turner's report to Commodore Sinclair 
relates what was accomplished: 

" U. S. Schooner " Scorpion," off Michilimackinac, 
July 28th, 1814. 

" Sir: I have the honor to inform you, that agreeable to your 
orders of the 22nd instant, I proceeded on the expedition to Lake 
Superior with the launches. I rowed night and day; but having 
a distance of sixty miles, against a strong current, information 
had reached the enemy at St. Mary's of our approach about two 
hours before I arrived at that place, carried by Indians in their 
light canoes; several of whom I chased, and by firing on them, 
killed some and prevented their purposes; some I captured and 
kept prisoners until my arrival, others escaped. The force under 
Major Holmes prevented anything like resistance at the fort, the 
enemy with their Indians, carrying with them all the light valu- 
able articles, peltry, clothes, etc. I proceeded across the strait of 
Lake Superior without a moment's delay; and on my appear- 
ance, the enemy, finding they could not get off with the vessel I 
was in quest of, set fire to her in several places, scuttled, and 
left her. I succeeded in boarding her, and by considerable 



Capture of the Schooner Perseverance. 179 

exertions exting-uished the flames, and secured her from sinking-. 
I then stripped her and prepared for getting her down the falls. 
Adverse winds prevented my attempting the falls until the 26th, 
when every possible effort was used, but I am sorry to say with- 
out success, to get her over in safety. The fall in three-quar- 
ters of a mile is forty-five feet, and the channel very rocky; the 
current runs from twenty to thirty knots, and in one place there 
is a perpendicular leap of ten feet between three rocks; here she 
bilged, but was brought down so rapidly that we succeeded in 
running her on shore below the rapids before she filled, and 
burned her. She was a fine new schooner, upwards of one hun- 
dred tons, called the "Perseverance," and will be a severe loss 
to the North-west Company. Had I succeeded in getting her 
safe, I could have loaded her to advantage from the enemy's 
storehouses. I have, however, brought down four captured boats 
loaded with Indian goods to a considerable amount; the balance, 
contained in four large and two small storehouses, were 
destroyed, amounting in value from fifty to one hundred thou- 
sand dollars. All private property was, according to your orders, 
respected. The officers and men under my command behaved 
with great activity and zeal, particularly Midshipman Swart- 
wout. 

"I have the honor to be. sir, with great respect, your obedient 
servant, Daniel Turner." 

After Holmes and Turner returned from St. Mary's 
Falls, with the launches, to St. Joseph's Island, the 
squadron sailed for Michilimackinac, arriving- July 26th. 
Since their first appearance off Bois Blanc Island, Ivieut. 
Colonel Robert McDouall, (Gleng-arry Lig"ht Infantry, 
Fencibles), commanding-, had time to plant cannon at 
assailable points, muster Canadian and Indian allies, and 
prepare for defense. Guns were planted to command all 
water approaches, the heig-hts, the elevation above the 
distillery, on the hill west of the fort and convenient 
places east to Robinson's Folly. 

The fleet came to anchor at the foot of Round Island. 
They were at once oblig-ed to move towards Bois Blanc 
Island to avoid the rang-e of the enemy's g-uns, that 



180 History of Mackinac. 

opened fire, and rendered their position untenable. 
Then Col. Croghan sent a force in launches to Round 
Island (Mr. Ambrose Davenport as guide), to recon- 
noiter, with the view of establishing- a battery on the 
water front opposite the fort. A site above the " lime- 
kiln " was selected, facing the village, and the party 
leisurely returned through the woods and clearings, 
picking raspberries by the way. The British, on the 
alert, discovered them and sent a large party of savages 
over in two or three hundred canoes and several bat- 
teaux, who soon reached the island. They pursued the 
stragglers to their boats and captured one Frenchman. 
One of the launches struck a rock, just below the water 
level, and swung around as if on a pivot within reach of 
the enemy's guns. The savages opened fire and the 
boat returned the compliment, but no damage was done. 
The officer in charge ordered the men to cease firing and 
push off the boat, which was soon done, and they 
returned to the fleet. Sinclair directed a small, one-gun, 
vessel to sail up through the Round Island channel to 
head of the Indians and re-take the prisoner if possible. 
Whenever the boat, in tacking, neared the shore she was 
fired on by the savages, who swarmed on the beach. 
The fire was returned from the boat with gun and 
small arms. No one was injured but nothing was 
accomplished, as the wind was against them. 

As the Indians were returning by the Mackinac chan- 
nel, the "Lawrence," anchored west of the island, fired 
a shot at them without effect. They plied their paddles, 
chanting the death-dirge, intending to roast their vic- 
tim and feast on him. When they landed, Colonel 
McDouall sent a strong guard, who took the prisoner 
and conveyed him to the fort. 



182 History of Mackinac. 

When the "Lawrence" was cruising-, the day after, a 
dense fog- came on. As it lifted, later that day, the 
vessel had drifted near the southwest end of the island, 
with little wind, and in range of the enemy's guns; she 
was fired on from the west-end battery without effect. 
One shot was returned by the " Lawrence," but her guns 
could not be elevated enough to strike the fort. After 
this, unfavorable weather prevented operations several 
days. 

Finding- the place could not be carried by assault from 
the front, or east and west sides of the island. Colonel 
Crog-han and Sinclair determined to effect a landing in 
the northwest bay, where Roberts debarked two years 
before, and make a lodgment from which they could 
annoy and finally starve out the enemy. That plan 
they attempted to execute, August 4th, and the result is 
shown in the following- reports: 

" Official report of Lieut. Col. George Croghan of the Battle oj 
Mic/iilimacfiinac Island. 

"U. S. S. War, 'Niagara,' Off Thunder Bay, \ 
"■August gth, 1 814. S 

"Sir— We left Fort Gratiot (head of the Straits St. Clair) on 
the 12th ult., and imagined that we should arrive in a few days 
at Matshadash Bay. At the end of the week, however, the Com- 
modore, from the want of pilots acquainted with that unfre- 
quented part of the lake, despaired of being- able to find a 
passag-e through the island into the bay, and made for St. 
Josephs, where we anchored on the 20th day of July. After 
setting fire to the Fort of St. Josephs, which seemed not to have 
been recently occupied, a detachment of infantry and artillery, 
under Major Holmes, was ordered to Sault St. Mary's for the 
purpose of breaking up the enemy's establishment at that place. 

" For particulars relative to the execution of this order, I beg 
leave to refer you to Major Holmes' report, herewith enclosed. 
Finding on my arrival at Michilimackinac, on the 26th ult., that 
the enemy had strongly fortified the height overlooking the old 
Fort of Mackinac, I at once despaired of being able with my 



Battle of Michilimackinac Island. 183 

small force, to carry the place by storm, and determined (as the 
only course remaining) on landing and establishing myself on 
some favorable position, whence I could be enabled to annoy the 
enemy by gradual and slow approaches, under cover of my artil- 
lery, in which I should have the superiority in point of metal. 1 
was urged to this step by another reason, not a little cogent; 
could a position be taken and fortified on the island, I was well 
aware that it would either induce the enemy to attack me in my 
strongholds, or force his Indians and Canadians (the most effi- 
cient and only disposable force) ofiF the island, as they would be 
very unwilling to remain in my neighborhood after a permanent 
footing had been taken. 

" On inquiry, I learned from individuals who had lived many 
years on the Island, that a position desirable as I might wish 
could be found on the west end, and therefore made arrange- 
ments for disembarking. A landing was effected on the 4th 
inst., under cover of the guns of the shipping, and the line being 
quickly formed, had advanced to the edge of the field, spoken of 
for a camp, when the intelligence was conveyed to me that the 
enemy was ahead, and a few seconds more brought us a fire from 
his battery of four pieces firing shot and shells. After recon- 
noitering his position, which was well selected, his line reached 
along the edge of the woods, at the further extremity of the field 
and covered by a temporary breast work; I determined on 
changing my position (which was now two lines, the militia 
forming the front), by advancing Major Holmes' battalion of 
regulars on the right of the militia, thus to outflank him, and by 
a vigorous effort to gain his rear. The movement was immedi- 
ately ordered, but before it could be executed, a fire was opened 
by some Indians posted in a thick wood near our right, which 
proved fatal to Major Holmes and severely wounded Captain 
Desha (the next officer in rank). This unlucky fire, by depriving 
us of the services of our most valuable officers, threw that part 
of the line into confusion from which the best exertions of the 
officers were not able to recover it. Finding it impossible to 
gain the enemy's left, owing to the impenetrable thickness of 
the woods, a charge was ordered to be mads by the regulars 
immediately against the front. This charge although made in 
some confusion, served to drive the enemy back into the woods, 
from whence an annoying fire was kept up by the Indians. 

*' Lieut. Morgan was ordered up with a light piece to assist the 
left, now particularly galled; the excellent practice of this 
brought the enemy to fire at a longer distance. Discovering that 



184 History of Mackinac. 

this disposition from whence the enemy had just been driven 
(and which had been represented to me as so high and command- 
ing), was by no means tenable, from being interspersed with 
thickets, and intersected in every way by ravines, I determined 
no longer to expose my force to the fire of an enemy deriving 
every advantage which could be obtained from numbers and a 
knowledge of the position, and therefore ordered an immediate 
retreat towards the shipping. This affair, which cost us many 
valuable lives, leaves us to lament the fall of that gallant officer. 
Major Holmes, whose character is so well known to the war 
department. Captain Van Home, of the 19th Infantry and 
Lieut. Jackson of the 24th Infantry, both brave intrepid young 
men fell mortally wounded at the head of their respective com- 
mands. 

" The conduct of all my officers on this occasion merits my 
approbation. Captain Desha, of the 24th Infantry, although 
wounded, continued with his command until forced to retire from 
faintness through loss of blood. Captains Saunders, Hawkins 
and Sturges, with every subaltern of the battalion, acted in the 
most exemplary manner. Ensign Bryan, 2nd Rifle Regiment, 
acting Adjutant to the battalion, actively forwarded the wishes 
of the commanding officer. Lieuts. Hickman, 28th Infantry, and 
Hyde of the U. S. Marines, who commanded the reserve, claim 
my particular thanks for their activity in keeping that command 
in readiness to meet any exigency. I have before mentioned 
Lieut. Morgan's activity; his two assistants, Lieut. Pickett and 
Mr. Peters, conductor of artillery, also merit the name of good 
officers. 

"The militia were wanting in no part of their duty. Col. Cot- 
greave, his officers and soldiers, deserve the warmest approba- 
tion. My acting assistant Adjutant General Captain N. H. 
Moore, 28th Infantry, with volunteer Adjutant McComb, were 
prompt in delivering my orders. 

"Captain Gratiot of the engineers, who volunteered his ser- 
vices on this occasion, gave me valuable assistance. On the 
morning of the 5th, I sent a flag to the enemy, to enquire into 
the state of the wounded (two in number), who were left on the 
field, and to request permission to bring away the body of Major 
Holmes, which was also left, owing to the unpardonable neglect 
of the soldiers in whose hands it was placed. I am happy in 
assuring you that the body of Major Holmes is secured, and will 
be buried at Detroit with becoming honors. I shall discharge 



Battle of Michiliniackinac Island. 185 

the militia to-morrow, and will send them down, together with 
two regular companies to Detroit. 

"With the remaining three companies I shall attempt to 
destroy the enemy's establishment in the head of Jfaw-taw-wa- 
sa-ga River, and if it be thought proper, erect a post at the mouth 
of that river. 

"Very respectfully, I have the honor to remain, sir, your 
obedient servant, 

"G. CROGHAN, 

Lieui.-Col. 2nd Riflemen. 
" To Hon. J. Armstrong, 

Secretary of War.''' 

Naval Report, Battle of Michiliraackinac Island, by 
Captain Sinclair: 

"United States Stoop of War 'Niagara,' 

Off Thunder Bay, August 9th, 1814. 
" Sir— I arrived oflf Michilimackinac on the 26th of July; but 
owing to a tedious spell of bad weather, which prevented our 
reconnoitering, or being able to procure a prisoner who could 
give us information of the enemy's Indian force, which, from 
several little skirmishes we had on an adjacent island, appeared 
to be very great, we did not attempt a landing until the 4th inst., 
and it was then made more with a view to ascertain positively 
the enemy's strength than with any possible hope of success; 
knowing, at the same time, that I could effectually cover their 
landing and retreat to the ships, from the position I had taken 
within 300 yards of the beach. Col. Croghan would never have 
landed, even with his protection, being positive, as he was, that 
the Indian force alone on the island, with the advantages they 
had, were superior to him, could he have justified himself to his 
government, without having stronger proof than appearances, 
that he could not effect the object in view. Mackinac is, by 
nature, a perfect Gibraltar, being a high inaccessible rock on 
every side, except the west, from which to the hights, you have 
near two miles to pass through a wood, so thick that our men 
were shot in every direction, and within a few yards of them, 
without being able to see the Indians who did it; and a height 
was scarcely gained before there was another within 50 or 100 
yards commanding it, where breastworks were erected and can- 
non opened on them. Several of those were charged and the 



186 History of Mackinac. 

enemy driven from them; but it was soon found the further our 
troops advanced the stronger the enemy became, and the weaker 
and more bewildered our forces were; several of the commanding 
officers were picked out and killed or wounded by the savages, 
without seeing any of them. The men were getting lost and 
falling into confusion, natural under such circumstances, which 
demanded an immediate retreat, or a total defeat and general 
massacre must have ensued. This was conducted in a masterly 
manner by Col. Croghan, who had lost the aid of that valuable 
and ever to be lamented officer, Major Holmes, who, with Cap- 
tain VanHorn, was killed by the Indians. 

"The enemy were driven from many of their strongholds; but 
such was the impenetrable thickness of the woods, that no advan- 
tage gained could be profited by. Our attack would have been 
made immediately under the lower fort, that the enemy might 
not'have been able to use his Indian force to such advantage as 
in the woods, having discovered by drawing a fire from him in 
several instances, that I had greatly the superiority of metal of 
him; but its site being about 120 feet above the water, I could not 
when near enough to do him an injury, elevate sufficiently to 
batter it. Above this, nearly as high again, he has another 
strong fort, commanding every point on the island, and almost 
perpendicular on' all sides. Col. Croghan not deeming it pru- 
dent to make a secQnd attempt upon this place, and having 
ascertained to a certainty that the only naval force the enemy 
have upon the lakes consists of one schooner of four guns, I have 
determined to dispatch the "Lawrence" and "Caledonia" to 
I^ake Erie immediately, believing their services in transporting 
our armies there will be wanting; and it being important that 
the sick and wounded, amounting to about 100, and that part of 
the detachment not necessary to further our future operations 
here, should reach Detroit without delay. By an intelligent 
prisoner, captured in the "Mink," I ascertained this, and that 
the mechanics and others sent across from York during the win- 
ter were for the purpose of building a flotilla to transport rein- 
forcements and supplies to Mackinac. An attempt was made to 
transport them by the way of Matchadash, but it was found im- 
practicable, from all the portages being a morass; that they then 
resorted to a small river called Nautawasaga, situated to the 
south of Matchadash, from which there is a portage of three 
leagues over a good road to Lake Simcoe. This place was never 
known until pointed out to them last summer by an Indian. 
This river is very narrow, and has six or eight feet water in it 



Battle of Michilimackinac Island. 187 

about three miles up, and is then a muddy, rapid shallow for 45 
miles up to the portage, where their armada was built, and their 
storehouses are now situated. The navigation is dangerous and 
difficult, and so obscured by rocks and bushes that no stranger 
could ever find it. I have, however, availed myself of the means 
of discovering it; I shall also blockade the mouth of French 
River until the fall; and those being the only two channels of 
communication by which Mackinac can possibly be supplied, and 
their provisions at this time being extremely short, I think they 
will be starved into a surrender. This will also cut off all sup- 
plies to the Northwest Company, who are now nearly starving, 
and their furs on hand can only find transportation by the way 
of Hudson Bay. At this place I calculate on falling in with their 
schooner, which, it is said, has gone there for a load of provi- 
sions, and a message sent to her not to venture up while we are 
on the lake. 

" Very respectfully I have the honor to remain, Sir, 

" Your obedient servant, 

Arthur Sinci^air. 

"To Hon. Wm. Jones, 

'•^Secretary of the Navy.'''' 

Report of Captain N. H, Moore, 28th Infantry, Acting- 
Assistant Adjutant General, of the killed, wounded and 
missing, affair of Aug-ust 4th, 1814. 

" On Board the U. S. Sloop of War, ' Niagara,' 
11th August, 1814. 

"Artillery — wounded three privates. 

"Infantry — I7th Regiment; killed, five privates; wounded two 
sergeants, two corporals, fifteen privates. Two privates since 
dead. Two privates missing. 

"19th Regiment — wounded, one captain, nineteen privates. 
Captain Isaac Van Home, Jr., since dead; one private since dead. 

"24th Regiment — killed, five privates; wounded, one captain, 
one lieutenant, three sergeants, one musician, five privates. 
Captain Robert Desha severely; Ivieut. Hezekiah Jackson since 
dead; one sergeant since dead. 

"32nd Regiment — killed, one major. Major Andrew Hunter 
Holmes. 

"United States Marines— wounded, one sergeant. 

" Ohio Militia killed, two privates. Wounded, six privates — 
one private since dead. 



188 Histojy of Mackinac. 

" Grand total — One major and twelve privates killed; two cap- 
tains, one lieutenant, six sergeants, three corporals, one musician 
and thirty-eight privates wounded. Two privates missing. 

"The above return exhibits a true statement of the killed, 
wounded and missing in the affair of the 4th instant. 

"N. H. Moore, Captain 28th Infantry. 

"Acting Assistant Adjutant General." 

The battle was foug-ht on Michael Dousman's farm 
(now Earley estate), in a field, westward of the road 
leading- from the Fort to the "British Landing." The 
enemy's battery (four guns) was masked behind a ridge, 
750 feet from the road, in the old orchard, in front of 
the woods, to the left, after entering from the harbor 
and villag-e, through the "red g-ate." The positions are 
delineated on the outline map. When the defeated 
troops regained their shipping the fleet moved near their 
former position off Bois Blanc island. 

Failing" to capture Michilimackinac, measures were 
devised to prevent the arrival of supplies and starve the 
enemy into submission. All the troops but three com- 
panies were sent to General Brown at Niagara, in the 
"Lawrence" and "Caledonia." A pilot was secured 
and the remaining squadron sailed for the French and 
Nautauwasaga rivers in Georgian Bay. French river 
was decided useless as a winter route (the one from 
Montreal by way of the Ottawa portage and Lake Nip- 
pissing) and was avoided, and the course laid to the 
" Nautauwasaga " the outlet of Lake Sincoe. Here sup- 
plies were conveyed across the peninsula from York 
(Toronto) and reshipped to Michilimackinac and Sault 
Ste. Marie. The enemy's schooner "Nancy" was dis- 
covered a few hundred yards up the river, protected by a 
block-house on the opposite shore. The following morn- 
ing two howitzers were landed and planted within range 



Battle of Michiliniackinac Island. 189 

of the block-house at which shells were thrown. One 
of the shells burst and blew up the mag-azine, allowing- 
the enemy scarcely time to escape. That lighted a train 
laid to the vessel, that set fire to her and her valuable 
cargo, and six months supplies for Fort Michilimacknac 
were entirely consumed. It was not considered necessary 
to fortify and garrison the position, so Colonel Croghan 
and Sinclair left the "Tigress" and "Scorpion" to 
blockade the river until the ice began to form, which 
would prevent the forwarding of provisions. After that 
the rest of the squadron sailed for Detroit. 

The captain and several of the crew of the "Nancy" 
escaped in a boat and sailed for Michilimackinac and 
informed Col. McDouall of the disaster. That intrepid 
officer saw that something must be done to prevent 
starvation, as provisions were scarce. The command, 
already, on half rations, had a long winter before them. 
An expedition was sent in open boats to break the block- 
ade. It consisted of one hundred and fifty sailors and 
soldiers with two hundred and fifty Indians. When the 
force arrived at the head of the bay, they discovered the 
"Tigress" alone; she had been separated several days 
from the "Scorpion." During the night of September 
3rd, it being very dark, she was boarded and captured 
after a desperate encounter, in which several men were 
killed and others wounded. The signal book fell into 
the hands of the enemy. British officers now, having 
the vessel and knowing her signals, captured the " Scor- 
pion " at dawn, on the 6th instant. That was the final 
stroke to the ill-fated expedition and Michilimackinac 
was secure for another winter. 

Mackinac Island was then, as it is now, the key of the 
Upper Lakes. When held by land and naval forces 



190 History of Mackinac. 

combined, the power in possession was master of the 
situation. Considering- the remoteness of the place 
from other settlements and the slow and limited means 
of communication, the "aifair"of August 4, 1814, and 
the subsequent connected events, was a serious and dis- 
astrous defeat to the United States. Had it not been for 
the terms of the treaty of peace, ratified the following- 
year, the continued occupation of the fort and straits, 
by the British, would have been of far-reaching effect 
on the commercial and industrial interests of this nation. 

Peace was concluded between the two contending 
nations during the winter of 1814-15, as the result of the 
Treaty of Ghent, December 24, 1814, and proclaimed, 
February 18, 1815. 

The U. S. Sloop of War, "Niagara," U. S. Schooner, 
"Porcupine," and two chartered vessels sailed from 
Detroit with six months' supplies for Michilimackinac, 
in command of Samuel Woodhouse, Lieut., U. S. Navy, 
July 3, 1815, and arrived the 18th instant. There was 
on board a land force of one company of artillery and 
two companies of rifles, all under Colonel Anthony But- 
ler, 2d Rifles, U. S. Army. William Gamble, collector 
of customs, was also with the expedition to establish the 
post. 

After due exchange of courtesies between the retiring- 
and in-coming commanders and their troops. Col. Butler 
took formal possession, 12 m., July 18, 1815, of the fort 
and dependencies. Col. McDouall, with the British 
force, then retired to Drummond's Island, at the mouth 
of St. Mary's river, where a large post was laid out. 
Colonel Butler left Capt. Willoughby Morgan, U. S^ 
Army, in command of Fort Mackinac and returned to 
Detroit with the fleet. 



192 History of Mackinac. 

Fort "Georg-e" was re-named "Fort Holmes" (in 
honor of Major Holmes) and was occupied a few days 
by a detachment and Michael Dousman was appointed 
military ag-ent of Michilimackinac. 

Soon after the detachment was withdrawn from Fort 
Holmes the block house was taken down and rebuilt for 
the stable, now at the foot of the hill, in front of Fort 
Mackinac. It is not, and never was, ornamental; and it 
would be a great improvement to the landscape to remove 
all the stables and storehouses from the lake front. 

August 31, 1815, Major Talbot Chambers arrived and 
took command of Fort Mackinac, and Capt. Morgan was 
ordered to Detroit. 

In 1816 Colonel John Miller, with part of the 3d 
Infantry, arrived, and soon thereafter left with the 
"two companies of rifles," to establish Fort Howard at 
Green Bay. 



THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY. 

The American Fur Company was organized by John 
Jacob Astor, who was born in Germany, and migrated 
to this country in 1784, and settled in New York. He 
first worked in a bakery, afterwards assisted in a toy 
shop and then began, in a limited way, selling furs in 
country towns about the city. From the beginning he 
was industrious, careful, prudent, saving (of course suc- 
cessful) and by strict attention to business, soon accu- 
mulated considerable means. In 1809 the American Fur 
Company was chartered, under act, by the state of New 
York, with a capital of one million dollars, Astor presi- 
dent, and principal share holder. In 1811 Mr. Astor, 
and others, associates of the North West Fur Co. (org-an- 



The American Fur Company. 193 

ized 1783) boug-ht out the "Mackinac Company" and 
founded, with his company, the "South West Fur Com- 
pany." The war of 1812-15 was a damper to the fur 
trade. After peace was concluded in 1815 Mr. Astor 
boug-ht out the " South West Fur Company " and re-es- 
tablished the "American Fur Company." Up to that 
time most of the merchants and employes of those com- 
panies were British and not favorable to the United 
States. During- the winter of 1815-16, through the 
influence of Mr. Astor and his company, cong-ress passed 
an act prohibiting- foreigners trading with Indians in the 
United States. 

In the winter of 1817-18 more active operations in the 
fur trade began. A number of clerks and voyageurs 
were engaged at Montreal, by Mr. Matthews, agent of 
the "American Fur Company," of Mackinac Island. 
Hon. Gurdon S. Hubbard, of Mackinac Island and 
Chicago, was one of the clerks enrolled for five years, at 
one hundred and twenty dollars a year and board. 

Matthews' force left Lachine, on the St. Lawrence, 
May 13th, 1818, in open batteaux (loaded with sup- 
plies), propelled by oars. The average distance made 
was fifteen miles a day; and, at the end of a month, 
they reached Little York (Toronto). From York they 
journeyed overland, with ox teams to (Youngs Street) 
Lake Simcoe. They crossed the lake and hauled their 
batteaux, with the help of a yoke of oxen (they had 
brought in one of the boats) over the Nau-tau-wa-sa-ga 
portage — six miles — "into the river of the same name." 
From thence, in re-loaded batteaux, down the river, 
through Georgian Bay, and over Lake Huron, to Macki- 
nac Island, where they landed — "at the foot of Robin- 
son's Folly," July 4th. Here they were met by Ramsey 



194 History of Mackinac. 

Crooks and Robert Stewart the resident managers of 
the headquarters of the "American Fur Company," and 
"a host of clerks and voyagfeurs," who g"ave them a 
royal welcome, with a 4th of July celebration. 

1818. "Here was located Fort Mackinac, at that 
time g-arrisoned by three or four companies of United 
States troops. The village had a population of about 
five hundred, mostly Canadian French and mixed Indian 
blood, whose chief occupation was fishing in summer 
and hunting in winter. There were not more than 
twelve white women on the island, the residue of the 
female population being either all or part Indian. Here, 
during the summer months congregated the traders 
employed by the Fur Company, bringing their collec- 
tions from their several trading posts, which extended 
from the British dominions on the north and the Mis- 
souri river in the west, south and east to the white set- 
tlements; in fact, to all the Indian hunting grounds, so 
that when all were collected they added three thousand 
or more to the population. 

"The Indians from the shores of the upper lakes, who 
made this island a place of resort, numbered from two 
to three thousand more. Their wigwams lined the 
entire beach two or three rows deep, and with the tents 
of the traders made the island a scene of life and anima- 
tion. The voyageurs were fond of fun and frolic, and 
the Indians indulged in their love of liquor, and, by the 
exhibition of their war, medicine and other dances and 
sports, often made both night and day hideous with 
their yells. These voyagrurs were all Canadian French, 
and were the only people fitted for the life they were 
compelled to endure; their cheerful temperament and 



The Anierica7i Fur Company. 195 

happy disposition made them contented under the priva- 
tions and hardships incident to their calling-." 

Yearly, in July, when the "outfits" of the various 
outposts had returned, the furs were unpacked, counted, 
assorted, appraised, the profit and loss of each ascertained, 
then repacked, pressed and stored in the company's larg^e 
warehouse ready for shipment to Mr. Astor in New 
York. The furs, or pelts taken, were marten (sable), 
mink, otter, beaver, black, silver grey, and common fox, 
deer, moose, elk, bear, buffalo, wolverine, badger, lynx, 
raccoon, wild cat, muskrat, and all small fur animals. 

"The force of the company when all were assembled 
on the island comprised about four hundred clerks and 
traders, tog-ether with some two thousand voyag-eurs. 
About five hundred of these were quartered in barracks, 
one hundred lived in the ag-ency house," now the John 
Jacob Astor House, "and the others were camped in 
tents and accommodated in rooms of the islanders. 

"Dances and parties were g-iven every nig-ht by the 
residents of the island in honor of the traders, and they, 
in their turn, reciprocated with balls and jollifications, 
which, though not as elegant and costly as those of the 
present day, were sufficiently so to drain from the par- 
ticipants all the hard earning of the winter previous." 

Each "brigade" had a stout fellow, the "bully" of 
that crew of voyageurs who "wore a black feather in 
his cap," and, if he got cleaned out, good naturedly gave 
the feather to the conqueror. 

Batteaux used by the "brigades" (in addition to 
canoes) resemble the Mackinac fishing boats of the pres- 
ent day, but were larger, with a capacity for about three 
tons of merchandise, and the clothing and rations of the 
men. Each batteau had a crew of a clerk and five men. 



196 History of Mackinac. 

One man steered and four propelled the craft with oars. 
The daily ration of a mess of from six to ten men, was, 
to each man, one pint of hulledor Ijed corn and trom 
two to four ounces of tallow. It was more than they 
could eat, better than bread and meat, and was g-enerally 
liked. On Saturday flour was issued for Sunday pan- 
cakes. The voyag-eurs were not provided with shelter 
and their lugg-ag-e was restricted to twenty pounds, car- 
ried in a bag-. The commander of the " brig-ade " 
selected the best boat and an extra man for "orderly," 
"and the will of the commander was the only law 
known." The clerks messed with the commander and 
orderly. They had salt pork, tea and coffee, and a tent 
for shelter. 

The company had mechanics, who made and repaired 
boats, and manufactured traps, tomahawks, nails, and 
other articles from iron. The capital of the Fur Com- 
pany was immense, and their policy was to monopolize; 
fully nineteen-twentieths of traders of the northwest 
were eng-ag-ed by them. 

The few traders on the island were Michael Dousman, 
Edward Biddle and John Drew, also Mrs. Mitchell, wife 
of Dr. Mitchell, surg-eon in the British army. All were 
under the influence of the Fur Company, boug-ht most of 
their g-oods of the corporation, and sold their furs to the 
company. 

Some of the Indian women, the mixed bloods in par- 
ticular, were intellig-ent and accomplished, and married 
prominent men. Mrs. Dr. Mitchell was a mixed blood, 
and the widow Lafromboise, whose daug-hter married 
the U. S. Commander of Fort Mackinac ; also a Miss 
Chandler, who married a prominent lawyer of Green 
Bay. Mrs. Edward Biddle was an Indian of queenly 



The American Fur Company. 197 

appearance; she dressed in Indian costume, the finest 
'black or blue broadcloth, beautifully ornamented with 
silk and moose-hair work. 

The late Major John H. Kinzie conducted the Fur 
Company's retail store in the basement of a building- on 
the corner of Fort and Market streets. Here Alexander 
St. Martin, a French Canadian youth, 18 years old, was 
accidently shot, June 6, 1822, by one of his companions, 
whilst they were carelessly examining- a loaded shot g-un. 
Dr. William Beaumont, U. S. A., Post Surg-eon, Fort 
Mackinac, was called and saw St. Martin about 25 min- 
utes after the accident. Rewrote — "Thecharg-e, con- 
sisting of powder and duck shot was received in the left 
side of the youth, he being- at a distance of not more 
than one yard from the muzzle of the gun. The con- 
tents entered posteriorly, in an oblique direction, forward 
and inward, literally blowing off integuments and mus- 
cles of the size of a man's hand, fracturing and carrying 
away the anterior half of the sixth rib, fracturing the 
fifth, lacerating the lower portion of the left lobe of the 
lungs, the diaphragm, and perforating the stomach." 
The wound healed and left a valvular orifice that could 
be depressed at pleasure and the contents of the stomach 
and action of the gastric fluids on them watched. This 
case led to a series of experiments and observations that 
are world renowned. (See "Experiments and Observa- 
tions on the Gastric Juice and the Physiology of Diges- 
tion. By William Beaumont, M. D., Surgeon in the U. 
S. Army, 1833.") 

In 1823 the United Foreign Missionary Society sent 
Rev. William Montague Ferry to establish a mission and 
school for Indians at Mackinac Island. He arrived 
October 19th, and opened the school in the court house 



198 History of Mackinac. 

with twelve Indian children on the 3d of November. 
The school increased in numbers and usefulness, and in 
1825 the " Mission House" was built and the " Mission 
Church" in 1830. Many children from the neig-hboring- 
shores attended, and at one time there were nearly two 
hundred in training-, with an ample corps of teachers. 
The results of the usefulness and sound principles 
taug-ht in that institution can be noticed to this day, in 
some of the inhabitants of this island and vicinity. 
Senator Thomas W. Ferry, who has done much for 
Mackinac Island and the state at larg-e, was born in the 
"Mission House" (now a hotel), in 1827, on the 1st of 
June. Rev. Mr. Ferry went to Grand Haven in 1834, 
and the mission was abandoned in 1837. 

Fort Mackinac was temporarily evacuated, October 
14, 1839, by Capt. Samuel McKenzie's company, 2d U. 
S. Artillery, and re-occupied May 18, 1840, by Capt. 
Harvey Brown's company " H," 4th Artillery. 

The Fur Company continued operations from 1815 
until 1834, when Mr. Astor transferred his stock and 
charter to Ramsey Crooks and associates. Mr. Crooks 
became the president, and business continued as usual 
until 1842, when, on account of competition with the old 
" North West Fur Company," (British) and other causes, 
it was oblig-ed to assig-n, and the American Fur Com- 
pany's career ended. During- all that period, the 
company for life and trade was Mackinac, and to all 
intents and purposes Mackinac was the American Fur 
Company. 

The erection of the Fur Company's building-s cost 
fifty thousand dollars, and three million dollars' worth 
of merchandise were annually exchang-ed in the Indian 
country for furs. The amounts disbursed by the g"ov- 



Fisheries of Michilimacki^iac. 199 

ernment for Indian annuities and the support and pay- 
ment of the troops each year were often over one million 
dollars more. 

Henry R. Schoolcraft, Indian Agent from 1833 to 
1841, author of "Alg-ic Researches," and other works, 
resided in the "Old Ag-ency"* building that stood in 
what is now (1895) the (East) fort garden, and after- 
wards in the " Indian Dormitory," f-west, adjoining. 

With the winding up of affairs of the American Fur 
Company, in 1842, the sail vessels, batteaux, small boats, 
buildings and other property on Mackinac Island passed 
into the hands of private individuals and firms, who 
embarked in the fur, fish and other branches of trade, 
on their own account, with more or less success. The 
vast fur business at once diminished to less than half the 
original volume, and finally was transferred to other 
places until it entirely disappeared from the island. 

THE FISHERIES. 

1895. With the decline of the fur trade the fishing 
business became prominent, and the voyageurs, Indians 
and their boats and outfits, that had been so successfully 
used, were utilized for that purpose. The Indians 
resorted to Michilimackinac and vicinity, to obtain fish 
for subsistence long before the "pale faces" visited this 
country. 

As early as 1824 whitefish and trout, in small quanti- 
ties, salted and packed in barrels, were caught and sent 
to the Buffalo market. All the fishing grounds for one 
hundred and fifty miles, or more, around sent their catch 
to Mackinac Island, where the fish were assorted, 
resalted, repacked in barrels ready for shipment. From 



* Home of " Anne." 

f Now the Union School House. 



200 History of Mackinac. 

1854 to 1860 the trade in salted fish increased to over 
two hundred and fifty thousand packages, valued at over 
one million dollars. Whitefish were frequently taken in 
g-ill nets that weig-hed from twenty to twenty-five 
pounds, and lake trout were caught that weighed eighty- 
five pounds. 

The pound or trap nets introduced about 1865, later 
the long gangs of gill nets, set about the shoals and 
reefs in the lakes, fished by men on steam tugs, in 
which fish are taken whilst on the shores and shoals 
spawning, and at all other times, have nearly ruined the 
business, and if it were not for the artificial hatching 
and annual planting of fry, there would be very few fish 
left in the lakes. Most of the catch now is packed in 
ice and shipped fresh to Chicago and other points; few 
are salted. The business can only be revived by inter- 
national legislation of a protective character, as the 
United States alone cannot control the "high seas." 

PEOPLE OF THE ISLAND. 
Among the business firms and families of Mackinac 
Island before and since the '40s are Jonathan N. Bailey,* 
Jonathan P. King, Rev. A. D. Piret,t Edward Guil- 
bault, L. Y. B. Birchard, P. C. Kevan, Wm. M. Johnson, 
J. H. Cook, McLeods, Wm. Madison, J. S. Saltonstall, 
John Becker, Arian R. Root, Wendells, Toll & Rice, 
Lasleys, Charles M. O'Malley, Jones and Drew families, 
Biddle & Drew, Chapman & Gray, William Scott, 
Edward Kanter, Peter White, Samuel K. Haring, Bela 
Chapman, Edward A. Franks, Michael Earley, Hulbert 
& Kirtland, Leopold & Austrian, Bromilow & Bates, 
John G. Read, Hoban Brothers, Henry Van Allen, C. 

♦Postmaster 1825,29; later first postmaster of Chicago. 
f " Pere Michaux," in "Anne." 



Counly and Borough of Michilimackinac. 201 

B. Fen ton, Todds, Chambers, McNally and Donnelly 
families, Douds and Mclntyres, Graveraet, Desbro, Gas- 
kill, Truscott, Bennett and 
Davis families, Gallagher, Cou- 
chois, Metevier, Lyon, La- 
chance and Louisig-nau fami- 
lies, Tanner, Granger and 
Hamblins, Bailey families, 
George T. Arnold, F. B. 
Stockbridge, John W. Davis & 
Son, George Truscott & Son, 
Dominick Murray and family, 
John R. Bailey & Son, H. W. 
Overall, W. P. Preston, Wm. 
Sullivan, Shomin Lapeen, Al- 
lor, McGulpin, Martineau, 
Rainville, Taylor, Burdette, 




MADAM CADOTTE* 
at Age of 25. 

and Cheniers, Bogans and Foleys, James F. Cable, 
Mulcrones and Holdens, Murray Brothers and McCartys. 



COUNTY AND BOROUGH OF MICHILIMACKINAC. 
Under the territory the jurisdiction of the courts at 
Michilimackinac extended over a large area of the 
Southern Peninsula, all of the Northern, the greater 
part of Wisconsin and westward to the Pacific Ocean. 
When Michigan became a State in 1837, the boundaries 
of the county of Michilimackinac were south to Saginaw 
Bay (the south line across the State being the north line 
of township twenty), west to the Menominee river and 
north to Canada. As the country settled the boundaries 
were gradually contracted to the present limits. The 
borough of Michilimackinact (now village of Mackinac) 

*See pag-e IS. 

f 1899. A bill is now before the legislature to re-incorporate 
into City of Mackinac Island. 



202 History of Mackinac. 

was the county seat. The villag-e (boroug-h) was incor- 
porated in 1817, April 6th; amended 1842-1843; the act 
of April 6th, 1817, repealed March 16th, 1847; amended 
1859, 1865, 1869; reincorporated 1875 and February 19tli, 
1895. The president of said villag-e ("borough of Mich- 
iliraackinac "), is a member of the Board of Supervisors 
of the county by virtue of old acts of incorporation, 
operative. 

September 18th, 1882, the county seat was transferred 
from Mackinac Island to St. Ig-nace. 

LEGEND OF MICHILIMACKINAC, 1879. 

The following was written for the "Department of 
the East," Military Division of the Atlantic, and pub- 
lished in pamphlet form. A copy is in the "Park 
Book" "No. 1.," "Letters Sent," p. 126 to 135, inclusive, 
Fort Mackinac, Michig-an. The notes added marked 
with a star "*," and inclosed in brackets, (), are not in 
my orig-inal: 

LEGEND OF MICHILIMACKINAC 

Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island, Michigan. Lati- 
tude 45° 51 '22" north; Long-itude 84° 41 '22" west. 

Heig-ht of parade ground above Lake Huron, 150 feet. 
(*Estimated; since found to be 133 feet.) 

Area of Island. — The island is about nine miles in 
circumference. (*Actual measurement, on the beach, 
within the water line, eight miles, less twenty feet.) 
Area, 3.47 square miles. 

(*Elevation of " Lakes Huron and Michigan," above 
sea level, is "581 3-10 feet." "Lake Superior 601 8-10 
feet." "The difference of 20>4 feet between Lake 
Superior and Huron occurs in the rapids of St. Mary's 
river.") 

The general trend of the land is from northwest to 



Legend of Michilimackinac. 203 

. southeast, having a diameter of about three miles and a 
breadth, from southwest to northeast, of a little less 
than two miles. 
Area in acres: 

Mackinac National Park 911.21 

Military Reservation 103.41 

Private Claims 1,207.20 

Total... 2,221.82 

Geology. — This peculiar formation is part of the 
Onondaga salt group of the Upper Silurian System, and 
the Upper Helderberg limestone group of the Devonian 
System. The first, or base, is of unknown thickness, 
and the second, forming the body, or cap, about 250 feet 
deep. 

The south end of the island, and face, is plainly 
terraced. Starting from the apex of Fort Holmes, 318 
feet above Lake Huron, before we come to the water, 
there are four distinctly marked natural terraces, each 
showing the wave lines of aqueous formation. The 
existence of the island is probably due, under the agency 
of the Divine Creator, to the gradual subsidence of the 
waters during thousands of years of time. Trilobites 
are found in the limestone formation. Beautiful arches, 
caves, conical and pyramidal rocks have been formed by 
time and the action of the elements on the limestone 
surface and add greatly to the beauty of the scenic isle. 
Of such, the Great Arch Rock, "*Fairy Arch" of the 
Giant's Stair-Way, Scott's Cave, Sugar Loaf Rock, 
Lover's Leap, Chimney Rock, and others are examples. 
Climate. — On account of the large bodies of fresh 
water surrounding, the climate is pleasant and agree- 
able. Extremes of temperature are 90° Fahr., and —23° 
Fahr. ; average about 39" Fahr. (to 41°). 
" "Fniry Arch," see page 204. 




FAIRY ARCH. 

'Fairv Arch " was discovered and named bv Dr. Bailej- in 1866. 



Legend of Michilimackinac. 205 

Soil. — The surface of the island is very irreg-ular, and 
the soil scanty but very rich, covering, as a g^eneral 
rule, the underlying" rock only a few inches. 

Vegetation. — The timber which has been cut down 
from time to time is small. Beech, maple, iron wood, 
oak, birch, wild cherry, and hazel, arbor vitse, fir, spruce, 
pine, juniper, tamarack, etc., are the principal. The 
common juniper abounds. 

Fort Mackinac and Island. — The fort is built on the 
bluff of a plateau, at the southeastern side of the island, 
and overlooks, in frowning grandeur, the straits and the 
little village of Mackinac, nestling on the beach, around 
the bay below. The Island of Mackinac is situated in 
the straits of the same name, between the Northern and 
Southern Peninsulas of Michigan, about one-third the 
distance through the straits from the eastern or Lake 
Huron side. The island is about three miles from the 
shore of the North Peninsula, and south side seven or 
eight miles from the Southern Peninsula. In front of 
the fort, to the southeast, is Round Island, a mile dis- 
tant, and three miles away, in the same direction, is the 
west end of the large island of Bois Blanc (white wood), 
which stretches out ten or twelve miles to the eastward, 
towards Lake Huron. The bay, or harbor, is small, of 
the usual horseshoe or crescentic form, and should be 
improved by breakwaters on the south and southeast 
points. 

Near places. — The village of Mackinac on the beach, 
in front of the fort adjoining the Military Reservation 
and Park, (in two detached portions) is the nearest most 
important town. It is the county seat (* was then) of 
Mackinac county, has about 700 inhabitants, seven 
hotels, (*now ten) a number of private boarding houses 
and several fine stores. It is one of the most noted and 



206 History of Mackinac. 

healthful summer resorts in the country, and is visited 
by hundreds of people from all parts of the Continent 
and Europe, who are in search of health, pleasure and 
recreation. The next town near the island, is Point St. 
Ig-nace, on the mainland, three miles to the northwest of 
the island, population about 450, (*St. Ig-nace is now a 
city and is the county seat, population 2,500). But the 
most important town, near the fort, is Cheboygan, f at 
the mouth of the Cheboyg-an river, in the Southern 
Peninsula, about sixteen and a half miles south-east, 
population 2,500, (* present population of the City of 
Cheboyg-an is about 7,000.) Port Brady, Sault Ste. 
Marie, sixty miles north and east is the nearest military 
post. The nearest railroad station is Petoskey, dfty-five 
miles distant, on Little Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, 
(*since the G. R. and I. R. R., and the Mackinac Divi- 
sion of the M. C. R. R. have extended their lines to 
"Mackinaw," a village of about 250 inhabitants, adjoin- 
ing- the site of (South) Fort Michilimackinac. These 
roads make daily connections by ferry steamers — ice 
crushers — "Ste. Marie" and "St. Ig-nace," from St. 
Ig-nace the terminal point of the D. S. S. and A, R. R. 
and the M. St. P. and Sault Ste. Marie R. R. and with 
Mackinac Island by the steam ferry "Alg-©mah." Three 
months during- the summer season there is a daily mail 
from Petoskey and a mail three times a week via Che- 
boyg-an the rest of the year, (*now there is a daily mail, 
the year round, and in the summer season, four or five 
mails per day, by the railroads and steam ferry connec- 
tions. ) During- the season of navig-ation from about the 
25th of April to the 15th of December this place is 
accessible by lines of steamers from Buffalo, Detroit, 
f Alg-onquin — Place of entrance, portage, or harbor. 



> 
z 

>> 

O '"^ 



H 
2 

o 




208 History of Alackinac. 

Chicago and other points, which land at all hours of the 
day and nig"ht and in winter by rail to Petoskey, (*see 
notes above), stag"e via Cheboygan, thence over the ice 
bridg-e to Mackinac. 

The straits generally freeze over about the 15th or 
20th of Januarj' and continue closed until the 15th or 
25th of April. 

The entire section of country bordering- the straits and 
vicinity, with the islands in the straits, was originally 
called "Michilimackinac,"or "Michilimackina," rendered 
thus by the French from the Indian name "Me-che-ne- 
mock-1-nong," which is said to mean "Great Turtle." 
It was thus named by the savages from a fancied 
resemblance of the island, as seen from Point St. Ignace, 
to the back of a large turtle. The name has since been 
contracted to "Mackinac," now pronounced by the Eng- 
lish "Mack-i-naw." This beautiful Isle of Mackinac, 
the "Home of the Great Manitou," and of the spirits 
whom the Indians delighted to worship, was a favorite 
sporting and camping ground of various Indian tribes 
long before the white man trod its sacred soil. 

Settlement. — The first settlement of Michilimackinac 
by white men, it is said, was the founding of the mission 
of St. Ignatius at "Michilimockinong," now Point St. 
Ignace, in 1671 by Rev. James Marquette. (*Recent 
research shows that Mackinac island was settled before 
St. Ignace, and we believe that its occupation antedates 
any other in this region of the lakes.) Within two or 
three years thereafter, the first stockade at the post of 
Michilimackinac was constructed. The stockade itself 
was called, by the French, some other name. This post 
was the most important in all Canad;t; it was the center 
of the fur trade, and the base of supplies f(ir the entire 



Legend of Michilitnackinac. 209 

northwest. The g-arrison consisted of two hundred sol- 
diers, and at least 8,000 Indians, in wig-warns and vil- 
lages, were encamped along the shores. Finally the 
post was abandoned and subsequently the "Post of 
Michilimackinac," and a mission of the same name, was 
established in 1714 (*that date is not positively known) 
at what is now called "Old Mackinaw," on the south 
shore of the straits eight miles from this point. It was 
held by the French until 1761 when it was transferred to 
the English as a part of the territory ceded by the 
French in 1760. 

Massacre. — June 4, 1763, as a part of the plot of the 
"Conspiracy of Pontiac," the English garrison was sur- 
prised and captured by the Indians, a portion of the 
command massacred, and the rest made captives. For a 
little more than a year after the massacre the post was 
occupied by coureur de bois and a few Indians as a tem- 
porary residence. It was then taken possession of by 
Captain Howard of the British army, with two com- 
panies of troops and occupied until 1780. That year it 
was abandoned and the troops removed to the Island of 
Mackinac. 

Fort Mackinac. — The present fort was occupied July 
15, 1780, but not completed until 1783. At that time the 
stone building (on ground plan marked "3") and the 
block-houses "27, 28 and 29," and a strong bomb-proof 
magazine with arched walls, six feet thick, built on part 
of the site of the present commissary, "9," were con- 
structed, also, the two arches and stone works, sur- 
mounted by a stockade of white cedar posts, squared and 
pointed at the tops, about ten feet high and set in 
the lines intersecting the block-houses. The stockade 
was pierced with two sets of loop-holes for musketry 



210 History of Mackinac. 

and the block-houses armed with small iron cannon. 
The whole formed a most perfect and secure defence 
ag-ainst the Indians of that day. 

In 1817-18 and as late as 1856-7 the fort retained much 
of its orig"inal appearance. About this last date a part 
of the stockade rotted and fell down and the rest was 
removed. The other parts of the old fort and works, 
viz., the stone wall facing- the lake, and the other stone 
and earth works, block-houses and old building's, "1, 2, 
3 and 4," retain much if not all their uniqueness. 

Buildings.— The material of "3, 27,28 and 29," is 
roug"h limestone, quarried near the fort, of various 
shapes and sizes. The walls are very thick and strong-, 
and also now about one hundred years old, bid fair to 
last for centuries. No. "3," is a story high, on the 
parade with a basement facing- the water, and a two- 
story porch on the water front. It is divided by a stone 
wall into two equal parts, with a narrow hall through 
the center of each half, and a set of officers' quarters on 
each side of the halls. The barracks for two companies, 
"5 and 6," were constructed in 1858. Other buildings on 
the same foundations have been twice destroyed by fire. 
An upper story "6," was added, and porch remodeled to 
make room for two companies in 1876-7. This barrack 
is a two-story frame building with porches the whole 
leng-th in front, facing the parade ground southeast. 
The upper story of the porch has a tight deck planking- 
that answers the double purpose of a floor above and a 
roof of the lower part. The dormitories are 11 5-12 
feet high and are fitted with single iron bedsteads, each 
having an air space of 4% and 749 cubic feet respect- 
ively. Mess-rooms and kitchens, "6," are in the rear 
of the main building. 



212 History of Mackinac. 

Hospital. — "10, 11, 12," is a wooden structure two 
stories high, with porches in front facing the lake, 
stands on the second level, east and just outside of the 
old walls of the fort, about 17 feet above the level of the 
parade ground. It is a double house with wide halls 
through the center of each story, and rooms on the sides 
of the halls. There are three wards besides the other 
rooms, capacity 14 beds, with an air space of from 600 
to 800 cubic feet each. It was constructed in 1858. 
There is no bathroom nor dead house attached. (*Since 
a dead house and also hospital steward's quarters, both 
near by, have been built and a bathroom added to the 
hospital. ) 

Commissary . — This fine building was completed in 
1878. It is a one-story frame house, built on the site of 
the old magazine. It has a cellar which is part of the 
walls of the demolished magazine. 

Officers'" Quarters. — "25" remodeled, and "26" added, 
*'26," "22," "23," and "24," constructed in 1876-7, all on 
the right of the flagstaff, on the second level, are new 
modern houses, one and a half stories high, with wide 
one-story porches in front, bay windows on the west and 
east sides of each. Commandant's block, "21," with a 
hall in the center and two rooms on each side of hall. 
"23" and "25" are also double, with two halls in the 
center, separated by a division wall, and two rooms on 
the outside of each hall. The attic stories of each are 
finished, and there are dining-rooms and kitchens, "22," 
"24," "26," "26," in the rear. 

Other Buildings. — The magazine, "18," brick, and 
the wood buildings, "19," "20," "14," "15," "16" and 
"31," were constructed in 1876-7. Date of construction 
of "13," "30," and "32" unknown. There are no relia- 



Legend of Michilimackinac. 213 

ble data to tell even the probable costs of construction. 

Drainage. — The drainage is natural and very good. 

Water. — The supply is from a well back of the stock- 
ade and from cisterns, but mostly from the lake, and 
has to be drawn up the steep hill in carts. This keeps 
two men and a span of mules constantly employed. 
(*A system of water supply, through iron pipes, forced 
from a spring at the foot of the hill west of the fort, has 
since been devised. The spring water, hard, from the 
limestone formation, is forced into a reservoir in the 
upper story of the north block-house by a steam pump- 
ing engine and from thence distributed to all of the 
buildings. Bath rooms, water closets and drainage 
pipes have, also, been put in the officers' and men's 
quarters and the hospital.) 

Sanitary. — The health of the post is excellent. There 
are no epidemics or prevailing diseases. It is, probably, 
the most healthy station in America. 

Reseivations. — The original reservation, mostly on 
the east side of the island, contained a little more than 
two square miles. See Capt. J. N. Macomb's T. E. Map 
of Island of Mackinac, 1855. 

Round Island. — Is reserved for lighthouse purposes. 
(*It is in the corporate limits of the village of Macki- 
nac; area, 180 acres.) 

Bois Blanc Island. — A large part of this island con- 
taining 21,351-88, is "Reserved to supply Fuel for 
the Garrison of Michilimackinac." fThe sections re- 
served are: "10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 
20, 21, 31, 32, 33 and 34" (sixteen sections = 9,733 32-100 
acres). See map "According to survey filed Surveyor 
General's Office, Chillicothe, Ohio, October 5th, 1827." 

f See p. 228. 



214 History of Mackinac. 

National Park, — By an Act of Congress, March 3rd, 
1875, the Military Reservation, and the United States 
lands, on the island, not in market, were set apart as a 
"National Park," excepting- only the present Reserva- 
tion, 103.41 acres around the fort. See map "Mackinac 
National Park," by Major G. Weitzel, U. S. A., 1875. 
The park is under the control of the Secretary of War, 
and the commanding officer of Fort Mackinac is, 
ex officio, the Superintendent. 

History.— Vrom 1780 to 1795 the fort was held by the 
British. Then the place was peacefully occupied by our 
forces in accordance with previous treaty. Our troops 
held the position until July 17th, 1812, when the fort 
and island was captured without bloodshed by Capt. 
Roberts of the English army, from St. Joseph's Island, 
with only a few, 135, soldiers and about 1,000 Indians. 
Roberts landed in the night, on the north side of the 
island in a small ba}-, that has ever since been called the 
"British Landing." Fearing he could not hold what he 
had so easily attained, he caused the redoubt of "Fort 
George," ("Fort Holmes,") a very strong earthwork, to 
be erected on the highest point of the island, about a half 
or three-quarters of a mile in rear of the present fort. 
Between the 4th and 8th of August, 1814, a force of 
United States troops, under Colonel Croghan and Major 
Holmes, attempted to recapture the island. A severe 
battle was fought, and our troops were surprised and 
defeated by the British and Indians in ambush. Major 
Holmes and twelve men were killed, three officers and 
forty-eight men were wounded and two missing. Fail- 
ing in the attempt Colonel Croghan withdrew the rem- 
nant of his command to his shipping. 

During the following winter, 1814-15, peace was con- 



Mackinac National Park. 215 

eluded and the Eng"lish evacuated the place in the spring-, 
'(*summer.) "Fort Georg-e" has since been called 
"Fort Holmes" in honor of the lamented major. 

The fort has been several times without a g-arrison, 
and many of the old records are lost or stolen. It is at 
present garrisoned by Go's "C" and "D" of the 10th 
Infantry, Capt. and Brevet Major E. E. Sellers in com- 
mand. The morale of the command, discipline, and 
police regulations of the fort are excellent. 

Fort Mackinac, Michigan, August 20th, 1879. 

John R. Bailey, 

Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army., Post Surgeon. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF MACKINAC NATIONAL 

PARK. 

When General Belknap was Secretary of War, in 1875, 
he sent a letter through General Sackett, Inspector Gen- 
eral U. S. Army, requesting Dr. John R. Bailey to give 
a written outline for the improvement, etc., of Macki- 
nac Island National Park. We suggested that the park 
be left as nearly as possible in a state of nature, the 
present roads, walks and bridle paths should be im- 
proved, and the carriage roads widened. An additional 
road around the island on the bluff, and one on the beach 
below, both to be connected at convenient places. A 
limited number of lots to be platted at suitable points, 
subject to lease, one parcel only to each applicant, for a 
stated time (with the privilege of renewal), so that there 
could be no chance for speculation, the whole to be 
under the direction and control of the Secretary of War, 
and the commanding ofl&cer of Fort Mackinac, ex-officio., 
the superintendent of said park, in accordance with the 
title of the original bill. And that an additional com- 



216 History of Mackinac. 

pany of troops be sent to patrol and police the park. 
The additional company was sent, and new quarters and 
barracks erected in 1876-7 for their accommodation. 

All work and plotting- of lots on the park appear to 
have been done, as nearly as could be, to the letter and 
spirit of that communication. 

LIST OF OFFICERS AT FORT MACKINAC, 1815-1895. 

"Lfist of Officers stationed at Fort Mackinac, Michigan, and 
year of their arrival, from 1815 to 1895 inclusi/e: 

1815. Anthony Butler, Colonel 2nd Rifles. 
Willoughby Morgan, Captain Riflemen. 
Talbot Chambers, Major. 

Joseph Kean, Captain. 
John O'Fallow, Captain. 
John Heddelson, 1st Lieutenant. 
James S. Gray, 2nd Lieutenant. 
William Armstrong, 2nd Lieutenant. 
William Hening, Surgeon's Mate. 
Benjamin K. Pierce, Captain, Artillery. 
Robert McCallum, Jr., 1st Lieutenant, Artillery. 
Louis Morgan, 1st Lieutenant, Artillery. 
George S. Wilkins, 2nd Lieutenant, Artillery. 
John S. Pierce, 2nd Lieutenant, Artillerj'. 
Thomas J. Baird, 3rd Lieutenant, Artillery. 

1816. John Miller, Colonel, 3rd Infantry. 
John McNeil, Major, 5th Infantry. 
Charles Gratiot, Major, Engineers. 
William Whistler, Captain, 3rd Infantry. 
John Greene, Captain, 3rd Infantry. 
Daniel Curtis, 1st Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
John Garland, 1st Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
Turly F. Thomas, 1st Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
Henry J. Conway, Jr., 1st Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
James Dean, 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
Andrew Lewis, 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
Asher Phillips, Paymaster, 3rd Infantry. 

1817. Edward Puroell, Hospital Surgeon's Mate. 
Albion T. Crow, Hospital Surgeon's Mate. 
William S. Evelith, 2nd Lieutenant, Engineers. 



Officers at Fort Mackinac. 217 

1818. Edward Brooks, 1st Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
Joseph P. Russel, Post Surgeon. 

1819. Joseph Gleason, died at station, March 27th, 1820, 1st 

Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
William Lawrence, Lieut. Colonel, 2nd Infantry. 
Peter T. January, 2nd Lieutenant, 3d Infantry. 
John Peacock, 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
William S. Comstock, Surgeon's Mate, 3rd Infantry. 

1821. William Beaumont, Post Surgeon. 
Thomas C. Legate, Captain, 2nd Artillery. 
Elija Lyon, 1st Lieutenant, 3rd Artillery. 
James A. Chambers, 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Artillery 
Joshua Barney, 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Artillery. 

1822. James M. Spencer, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery. 

1823. Alexander C. W. Fanning, Captain, 2nd Artillery 
William Whistler, Captain, 3rd Infantry. 
Samuel W. Hunt, 1st Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
Aaron H. Wright, 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 
George H. Crosman, 2nd Lieutenant, 6th Infantry. 
Steward Cowan, 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry. 

1825. William Hoffman, Captain, 2nd Infantry. 

Richard S. Satterlee, Assistant Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Carlos A. Wait, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Seth Johnson, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 

1826. David Brooks, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Alexander B. Thompson, Captain, 2nd Infantry. 

1827. James G. Allen, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Edwin James, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Ephraim K. Barnum, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Edwin V. Sumner, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Samuel T. Heintzelman, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 

1828. Charles F. Morton, 1st. Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Sullivan Burbank, Captain, 5th Infantry. 
Robert McCabe, Captain, 5th Infantry. 
William Alexander, 1st Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Abner B. Hetzel, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Josiah H. Vose, Major, 5th Infantry. 

1829. James Engle, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Amos Foster, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Enos Cutler, Lieut. Colonel, 3rd Infantry. 
Moses E. Merrill, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Ephraim Kirby Smith, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Isaac Lynde, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 



218 History of Mackinac. 

Caleb C. Sibley, 2nd lyieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
William E. Crug^er, 1st Lieutenant, 5ih Infantry. 
Louis T. Jamison, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 

1830. Henry Clark, 1st Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 

1831. John T. CoUingworth, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Robert McMillan, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1832. George M. Brooks, Colonel, 5th Infantry. 
Waddy V. Cobbs, Captain, 2nd Infantry. 

Joseph S. Gallagher, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
George W. Patten, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Thomas Stockton, Brvt. 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Alexander M. Thompson, Major, 6th Infantry. 
John B. F. Russell, Captain, 5th Infantry. 

1833. "William Whistler, Major, 2nd Infantry. 
Ephraim K. Barnum, Captain, 2nd Infantry. 
Joseph R. Smith, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
James W. Penrose, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Charles S. Frailey, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
George F. Turner, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1834. Jesse H. Leavenworth, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
John Clitz, died at station, Nov. 7, 1836, Captain, 2nd 

Infantry. 

1835. James V. Bomford, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Julius J. B. Kingsbury, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Massena R. Patrick, Brvt. 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 

1836. James W. Anderson, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Erastus B. Wolcott, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1839. Samuel McKenzie, Captain, 2nd Artillery. 
Arnold Elzey Jones, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery. 

1840. Harvey Brown, Captain, 4th Artillery. 

John W. Phelps, 1st Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
John C. Pemberton, 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 

1841. Patrick H. Gait, Captain, 4th Artillery. 
George C. Thomas, 1st Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
George W. Getty, 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
Henry Holt, Asst. Surgeon, U. S Army. 
Alexander Johnston, Captain, 5th Infantry. 
William Chapman, 1st Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Spencer Norvell, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Henry Whiting, 2nd Lieutenant. 5th Infantry. 
John M. Jones, Brvt. 2nd Lieutenant, Sth Infantry. 

.1842. Martin Scott, Captain. 5th Infantry. 
Rev. John O'Brien, Chaplain, 



Officers at Fori Mackinac. 219 

1813. Levi H. Holden, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Moses E. Merrill, Captain, 5th Infantry. 
William Root, 1st Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
John C. Robinson, 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 

1844. John Byrne, Asst. Surgeon. U. S. Army. 

1845. Charles C. Keeney, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
George C. Westcott, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry. 
Silas Casey, Captain, 2nd Infantry. 

Joseph P. Smith, Brvt. 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 
Fred Steele, Brvt. 2nd Lieutenant, 5th Infantry. 

1847. Frazey M. Winans, Captain, 15th Infantry. 
Michael P. Doyle, 2nd Lieutenant, 15th Infantry 
Morgan L. Gage, Captain, 1st Michigan Vols. 
Caleb F. Davis, 1st Lieutenant, 1st Michigan Vols. 
William F. Chittenden, 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Michigan Vols. 

1848. William N. B. Beall, Brvt. 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Infantry. 
Charles H. Larned, Captain, 4th Infantry. 

Hiram Dryer, 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Infantry. 

1849. Joseph B. Brown, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Joseph L. Tidball, Brvt. 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Infantry. 

1850. Charles H. Laub, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1851. David L. Russel, 1st Lieutenant, 4th Infantry. 

1852. Thomas Williams,* Captain (Brvt. Major). 4th Artillery. 
1852. George W. Rains, 1st Lieut. (Brvt. Major), 4th Artillery. 

Jacob Culbertson, 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
Joseph H. Bailey, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1854. John R. Bailey, Actg. Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Armj'. 

1855. John H. Grelaud, 1st Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
Joseph B. Brown, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1856. John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Edward F. Bagley, 2nd Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
William R. Terrell, 1st Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
Joseph H. Wheelock, 1st Lieutenant, 4th Artillery. 
John Byrne, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1857. Arnold Elzey (Jones), Captain, 2nd Artillery. 

1857. Henry Benson, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery. 
Guilford D. Bailey, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery. 
John. R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Arm}-. 

1858. Henry C. Pratt, Captain, 2nd Artillery. 

Henry A. Smalley, 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Artillery. 
John F. Head, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

* See p. 7. 



220 History of Mackinac. 

1859. William A. Hammond, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. 

Array. 
George R. Hartsuff, 1st Ivieutenaut, 2nd Artillery. 

1860. John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

George E. Cooper, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
1862. Grover S. Wormer, Captain, Stanton Guards, Michigan 
Vols. 

Elias F. Sutton, 1st Lieutenant, Stanton Guards, Michi- 
gan Vols. 

L/Ouis Hertmeyer, 2nd Lieutenant, Stanton Guards, Mich- 
igan Vols. 

James Knox, Chaplain, Michigan Vols. 

John Gregg, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army, Michigan Vols. 

Charles W. Le Boutillier, Asst. Surgeon, 1st Minnesota 
Infantry Vols. 

1866. Jerry N. Hill, Captain, Vet. Res. Corps. 
Washington L. Wood, 2nd Lieutenant, Vet. Res. Corps. 
John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1867. John Mitchell (Reed), Captain, 43rd Infantry. 
Edwin C. Gaskill, 1st Lieutenant, 43rd Infantry. 
Julius Stommell, 2nd Lieutenant, 43rd Infantry. 
Hiram R. Mills, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1869. Leslie Smith, Captain (Brvt. Major), 1st Infantry. 
John Leonard, 1st Lieutenant, 1st Infantry. 
Matthew Markland, 2nd Lieutenant, 1st Infantry. 

1870. Samuel S. Jessop, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1871. Thomas Sharp, 1st Lieutenant, 1st Infantry. 
John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1872. William N. Notson, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1873. John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Carlos Carvallo, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1874. Carlos J. Dickey, Captain (Brvt. Major), 22nd Infantry. 
John McA. Webster, 2nd Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry. 
John R. Bailey, Actg. Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

J. Victor DeHanne, Captain, Asst. Surgeon. U. S. A. 
W. W. Dougherty, 1st Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry. 

1875. Alfred L. Hough, Major, 22nd Infantry. 

1876. Joseph Bush, Captain (Brvt. Major), 22nd Infantry. 
Thomas H. Fisher, 1st Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry. 
Fielding L. Davis, 2nd Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry. 
John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1877. Charles A. Webb, Captain (Brvt. Major), 22nd Infantry. 
John G. Ballance, 2nd Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry. 



Officers at Fort Mackinac. 221 

Theodore Mosher, Jr., 2nd Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry-. 
Peter MoflFatt, Captain, Asst. Surg-eon, U. S. Army. 

1878. Oscar D. Ladley, 1st Lieutenant, 22nd Infantry. 

1879. Edwin E. Sellers, died April 8th, 1884, Captain (Brvt. 

Major), 10th Infantry. 
Dwight H. Kelton, 1st Lieutenant, 10th Infantrj*. 
Walter T. Dugg-an, 1st Lieutenant, 10th Infantry. 
Bogardus Eldridge, 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Infantry. 
Edward H. Plummer, 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Infantry. 
Charles L. Davis, Captain, 10th Infantry. 
John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1880. George W. Adair, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1881. John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon. U. S. Army. 

1882. "William H. Corbusier, Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. 

Army. 

1883. John Adams Perry, 2nd Lieutenant, 10th Infantry. 

1884. George K. Brady, Captain (Brvt. Lt. Col.), 23rd Infantry. 
Greenleaf A. Goodale, Captain, 23rd Infantry. 

Edward B. Pratt, 1st Lieutenant, 23d Infantry. 
Stephen O'Connor, 2nd Lieutenant, 23rd Infantry. 
Benjamin C. Morse, 2nd Lieutenant, 23rd Infantry. 
Calvin D. Cowles, 1st Lieutenant, 23rd Infantry. 
J. Rozier Clagett, 1st. Lieutenant, 23rd Infantry. 
John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1886. William C, Manning, Captain, 23rd Infantry. 
George B. Davis, 2nd Lieutenant, 23rd Infantry. 

1887. Charles E. Woodruff, 1st Lieutenant, Asst. Surgeon, U. 

S. Army. 

1889. John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Harlan E. McVay, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1890. Jacob H. Smith, Captain, 19th Infantry. 
Charles T. Witherell, Captain, 19th Infantry. 
Edmund D. Smith, 1st Lieutenant, 19th Infantry. 

1890. Zebulon B. Vance, Jr., 2nd Lieutenant, 19th Infantry. 
Woodridge Geary, 2nd Lieutenant, 19th Infantry. 
Henry G. Learnard, 2nd Lieutenant, 19th Infantry. 
Edwin M. Coates, Major, 19th Infantry. 

Harlan E. McVay, 1st Lieut., Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 

1891. John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army. 
Alexander McC. Guard. Captain, 19th Infantry. 
Joseph Frazier, 2nd Lieutenant, 19th Infantry. 

1892. Edwin F. Gardner. Captain, Asst. Surgeon, U. S. A. 
John R. Bailey, Attending Surgeon. 



222 History of Mackinac. 

Edwin F. Gardner, Capt , Asst. Surgeon, U. S. Arm)'. 
1893. John Howard, 2nd Lieutenant, 19th Infantry. 

James Ronayne, 2nd Lieutenant, 19th Infantry. 
189+. Clarence E. Bennett, Major (Brvt. Col. U. S. V.), 19th 

Infantry. 
1894-5. Woodbridge Geary, 1st L,t. (Comd'g Post), 19th Infantry. 

John R. Bailey, Attending Surgeon. 
1895. E. M. Johnson, Jr., 1st Lieut., 19th Infantry. 

Fort Mackinac was evacuated by Major Thomas Wil- 
liams' command, Co. "L," 4th Artillery, October 12th, 
1856, and re-garrisoned May 25th, 1857, by Capt. Arnold 
Elzey (Jones), Co. "E," 2nd Artillery. August 2d the 
command, and that at Fort Brady, Sault Ste. Marie, all 
under Capt. Henry C. Pratt, Co. "G," 2nd Artillery, with 
John R. Bailey, A. A. Surgeon, U. S. Army, were ordered 
to the scene of Indian hostilities at Fort Snelling, Min- 
nesota. June 6th, 1858, Fort Mackinac re-garrisoned by 
Capt. Pratt with Co. "G," 2d Artillery, and evacuated 
April 28th, 1861, by the same officer and command. 
Re-occupied May 10th, 1862, by Capt. Grover S. Wormer, 
Co. "A," Stanton Guards, Mich. Vols., who had in 
charge "Genl. William G. Harding, Genl. Washington 
Barrows and Judge Joseph C. Guild,'' "Confederates," 
prisoners of war. September 10th, 1862, the troops and 
prisoners were removed to Detroit, and the three state 
prisoners sent to Johnson's Island, Lake Erie. Re-gar- 
risoned August 3rd, 1866, by the 4th Independent Com- 
pany V. R. Corps, and that command ordered away 
August 26th, to be mustered out of service. The fort 
re-occupied August 22d, 1867, by Co. "B," 43d U. S. 
Infantry, Capt. (Brevet Col.) John Mitchell (Reed) com- 
manding; and, since then has continued to be garrisoned. 
The present garrison is a detachment of the 19th U. S. 
Infantry, under 1st Lieutenant Woodbridge Geary, with 



Churches. — Summer Resort. 223 

a quartermaster serg-eant and twelve men. John R. 
Bailey, Attending- Surg-eon. 

The title of the "National Park Bill," setting- apart 
the "Military Reservation and United States lands" on 
the Island of Mackinac, makes "The Commanding- Offi- 
cer of Fort Mackinac, ex-officio superintendent of said 
park." During^ all the periods from 1856, when the 
troops were absent, the fort was in charg-e of the late 
Ordnance Serg-eant William Marshall, deceased. 

CHURCHES. 

1895. The oldest Christian parish on the island is St. 
Ann's, Roman Catholic, that may be said to date from 
1669, or before, Reverend Father James Miller in charge. 
Presbyterian "Mission" and school dates from 1823, and 
the "Mission House" and church was subsequently 
erected; the "Mission Church," now a Union Chapel, is 
being repaired. "Trinity"* parish, formerly "St. An- 
drew's," Protestant Episcopal, dates from 1842; and the 
church on Fort Street was erected in 1882, mainly 
throug-h the efforts and with the funds of devoted Chris- 
tian women of the island and their tourist friends. 
Mackinac Island is the summer residence of the Bishop 
of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. 

MACKINAC ISLAND.— A SUMMER RESORT 

About 1842 a few southern families began making the 
island a resort. They brought their slaves with them 
and often remained the entire season, from June until 
November. Year after year the tourists, who could they 
only come by water, gradually increased, also the accom- 

* 1099. Rev. Lea Kelk-Wilson, Rector. 



224 History of Mackinac. 

modations, by remodeling- old buildings, in proportion to 
the gfuests. 

After "the late unpleasantness," 1861-5, summer travel 
increased with years of peace and prosperity, railroads 
(lines before mentioned) projected their roads to both 
sides of the straits, more steamers were placed in com- 
mission, new hotels, boarding- houses, and private cot- 
tages erected, until finally, the island has become one of 
the noted and most celebrated of the world's resorts. 

From an experience of over forty years in the practice 
of medicine on Mackinac Island, and vicinity, much of 
that time as Post Surg-eon, Fort Mackinac, we have 
observed that all cases of debility, and prostration from 
whatever disease or cause — ^when the patients* are not 
beyond the hope of recovery — are benefited by the pure 
bracing- air, and often cured. Miasmatic diseases do not 
exist, and epidemics from purely local causes can hardly 
occur. At the fort, with an average command of 60 to 
80 men (or about 100, women and children, included), 
there has been for two or three months — at times— in 
succession, a clean sick report. Few places can show as 
g-ood a health bill the year round. 

Professional and active business men, prostrated by 
active, mental and physical exertion, and the heat of 
cities, debilitated women, nursing- mothers, and teething- 
children, suffering- with diseases peculiar to dentition 
and hot weather, are often cured as if by mag-ic — under 
proper manag-ement — by the chang-e to this climate. 
The island and vicinity, from June to November is the 
place, "par excellance," for the relief of hay-fever and 
all asthmatic subjects. It is not prudent to bring- 
patients here in the last stag-es of consumption or wast- 
ing- thoracic diseases, but cases in the incipient stag-es 



226 History of Mackinac. 

are often greatly benefited. As the months of March, 
April, November and December are variable and subject 
to extremes of temperature, if this island has any local 
disease, it is rheumatism and kindred affections, but for 
such the summer and mid-winter seasons are not objec- 
tionable. 

It is the days of long- continued sunlight, the air, 
tempered by g-reat inland fresh-water seas, latitude, alti- 
tude and position of Mackinac Island, that makes the 
climate. Summer days, including twilight, are from 3 
A. M., to 9:30 p. M. The whole face of nature has 
lengthened, daily sunshine, and in consequence, all veg-- 
etable and animal life is vigorous and buoyant with cir- 
culation. A hop-vine has been known to grow eighteen 
inches in twenty-four hours, and in May you can watch 
currant leaves unfolding in your garden. 

What to wear: When you come to Mackinac bring- 
your winter g-arments, wear them, and take in the sun- 
baths. Your appetite will increase, digestion improve, 
and nightly, under soft blankets, you will sleep the 
charming sleep of perfect restfulness. 

The extremes of cold and heat are less than in that 
same latitude east and west, and some places far to the 
south. 

Monthly mean and extreme temperature for a series of 
twenty-four years, taken from Meteorological Records, 
Fahrenheit thermometer, are: June, 57°; July, 65°; 
August, 64°; September, 55°; October, 45°; November, 
34°; December, 23°; January, 19°; February, 18°; March, 
26°; April, 37°; May, 48°; yearly mean, 41°; minimum, 
-23°; maximum, 90°. Annual rainfall, 28 inches. 

At Sault Ste. Marie, not a degree north, minimum has 
been -55° in Feburary (when -29° here); maximum, 95° 



Al/i tildes. — Acts of Congress. 227 

to 100"; Montreal, -36° to 102°; St. Paul, less than a 
degree south, minimum, -56°; maximum, 103°; St Louis, 
Mo., minimum, -25°; maximum, 108°. We have only 
once, during- a residence of 43 years, seen the minimum 
here, -29°, and maximum never above 90°. 

ALTITUDES. 

The following- table of altitudes is from Winchell's 
Geological Reports and Lake Surveys: 

Lake Huron and Michigan above sea. feet 581.3 

Fort Mackinac, parade ground, above lake 133 

Fort Mackinac, upper level, above lake 150 

Principal plateau of Mackinac Island above lake.. 150 

Upper plateau of Mackinac Island above lake 294 

Fort Holmes above lake 318 

Sugar Loaf Rock, summit, above lake 284 

Arch Rock, top of arch, above lake 140 

Arch Rock, summit, above lake 149 

Arch Rock, buttress, top of, facing lake, above lake 105 

Robertson's Folly 127 

Lover's Leap, above lake 145 

Lake Superior, above sea 601.3 

ACTS OF CONGRESS FOR MACKINAC ISLAND. 

At the sug-g-estion of Dr. John R. Bailey, and through 
the influence of Senator Thomas W. Ferry, who intro- 
duced the bill, the "Indian Dormitory," a part of the 
military reservation, 0.46 acres, between the fort gar- 
dens (the building and grounds enclosed), was ceded, by 
Act of Congress, in 1870 to Union School District No. 
1, Township of Holmes, Mackinac Island; "For educa- 
tional purposes only, and, if ever converted to other 
uses, it shall revert to the government." 

Four other bills passed. Acts of Congress, were pro- 
posed by Dr. Bailey— three were introduced by Senator 
Ferry, the last by Senator O. D. Conger and Rep. 



228 Hiitury of AJackinac. 

Breitung-. The first was the "Mackinac Island National 
Park" Bill (passed March 3rd, 1875)— two were of a 
private nature — and the fourth the "fBois Blanc Island" 
Bill; in "An Act to provide for the disposal of aban- 
doned and useless Military Reservations." * 
=!: Sec. 3. ****** 

"And provided further, the proceeds of the military 
reservation lands sold to Bois Blanc Island near to Fort 
Mackinac military reservation shall be set apart as a sep- 
arate fund for the improvement of the National Park on 
the Island of Mackinac, Michig^an, under the direction 
of the Secretary of War," passed, 1884. Act disre- 
garded and subverted. 

The following provision in the "Sundry Civil Bill," 
was introduced by Senator McMillan, at the suggestion 
of the Secretary of War, and passed at the close of the 
last session of Congress, March 3rd, 1895." 

"165. Military Reservation on Mackinac Island, 
Michigan. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized 
on the application of the Governor of Michigan, to turn 
over to the State of Michigan, for use as a State Park, 
and for no other purpose, the military reservation and 
buildings, and the land of the National Park on Macki- 
nac Island, Michigan; Provided that whenever the state 
ceases to use the land for the purpose aforesaid, it shall 
revert to the United States." The measure is, now 
before the State Legislature. If Michigan proposes to 
set up alone in the kingdom business she wants this key 
to the waterways, but if not it may be well for the U. S, 
to "hold the fort." 

If under the French and British regime and with the 
United States, up to the present time, the possession of 

tSee p. 212. 



Defenses of the Straits of Mackinac. 229 

the Island of Mackinac and its fortification, has been 
deemed so important, why should a continuance of its 
occupation be, all at once, considered useless? . A strate- 
g"ic point once selected, on any commercial hig^hway, 
must, so long- as there is a necessity for an army and 
navy for foreign or local defense, alway remain. More 
vessels of every class, with a g-reater tonnag-e and larg-er 
value, annually pass through these straits and, by ferry, 
across them, than in any channel in the known world. 
Assuming- there is no longer danger from Great Britain, 
simply because that nation never considers it policy to 
attack an equal or a stronger power, unless she finds it 
divided or crippled by internal strife, that reason is not 
conclusive. Suppose, in times of peace and fancied 
security, there should arise an insurrection, riot, rebel- 
lion, or a band of robbers invade these channels in an 
armed vessel, and any of said parties hold the position 
for two or three days, or less time, interrupt navigation 
and stop the railway ferries. They could destroy float- 
ing property and lives, levy contributions and interrupt 
railroad connections, that would cost this government 
more than it would to hold the fort a hundred years. A 
small garrison, with two or three properly mounted 
"disappearing" modern guns, and gunboat well armed 
to rendezvous in the harbor and patrol the waters, would 
be ample security, at comparatively little cost. 

MACKINAC ISLAND. 

Hon. Henry R. Schoolcraft, Indian Agent from 1833 
to 1841, and author, writes, after a visit to Mackinac 
Island in 1820: 

"Nothing can exceed the beauty of this island. It is 
a mass of calcareous rock, rising from the bed of Lake 



230 History of Mackinac. 

Huron, and reaching- an elevation of more than three 
hundred feet above the water. The waters around it 
are purity itself. Some of its cliffs shoot up perpendicu- 
larly, and tower in pinacles, like ruinous g-othic steeples. 
It is cavernous in some places; and in these caverns the 
ancient Indians, like those of India, have placed their 
dead. Portions of the beach are level, and adapted to 
loading- from boats and canoes. The harbor at its south 
end is a little gem. Vessels anchor in it and find g-ood 
holding. The little old-fashioned French town nestles 
around it in a very primitive style. The fort frowns 
above it, like another Alhambra, its white walls gleam- 
ing- in the sun. The whole area of the island is one 
labyrinth of curious little glens and valleys. Old green 
fields appear, in some spots, which have been formerly 
cultivated by the Indians. In some of these are circles 
of gathered up stones, as if the Druids themselves had 
dwelt here. The soil, though rough, is fertile, being 
the comminuted materials of broken-down limestones. 
The island was formerly covered with a dense g-rowth of 
rock-maples, oaks, iron-wood, and other hard-wood 
species; and there are still parts of this ancient forest 
left, but all the southern limits of it exhibit a young- 
g-rowth. There are walks and winding paths among its 
little hills, and precipices of the most romantic charac- 
ter. And whenever the visitor gets on eminences over- 
looking the lake, he is transported with sublime views 
of a most ilimitable and magnificent water-prospect. If 
the poetic muses are ever to have a new Parnassus in 
America they should inevitably fix on Michilimackinac. 
Hygeia, too, should place her temple here; for it has one 
of the purest, driest, clearest, and most healthful atmos- 
pheres." 




SUGAR LOAF ROCK. MACKINAC ISLAND. 



232 History oj Mackinac. 

Geologically speaking-, too, the island is interesting 
and instructive. It appears to be a confused mass of 
corniferous limestone, 250 or more feet in thickness, in 
places the strata, well defined but broken, and tilted at 
various angles, and at its base are the rocks of the 
Onondaga salt group. Prof. Winchell writes: 

"The well-characterized limestones of the Upper 
Ilelderberg group, to the thickness of two hundred. and 
fifty feet, exist in a confusedly brecciated condition. 
The individual fragments of the mass are angular, and 
seem to have been but little moved from their original 
places. It appears as if the whole formation had been 
shattered by sudden vibrations and unequal uplifts, and 
afterward a thin calcareous mud poured over the broken 
mass, percolating through all the interstices, and re- 
cementing the fragments. 

"This is the general physical character of the mass; 
but in many places the original lines of stratification can 
be traced, and individual layers of the formation can be 
seen dipping at various angles and in all directions, 
sometimes exhibiting abrupt flexures, and not infre- 
quently a complete downthrow of fifteen or twenty feet. 
These phenomena were particularly noticed at the cliif 
known as 'Robertson's Folly.' 

"In the highest part of the island, back of Old Fort 
Holmes, the formation is much less brecciated, and 
exhibits an oolitic character, as first observed in the 
township of Bedford, in Monroe county 

"The island of Mackinac shows the most indubitable 
evidence of the former prevalence of the water to the 
height of two hundred and fifty feet above the present 
level of the lake; and there has been an unbroken con- 
tinuance of the same kind of aqueous action from that 
time durinsf the gradual subsidence of the waters to 



Geology of Mackinac Island. 233 

their present condition. No break can be detected in the 
evidences of this action from the present water-line 
upward for thirty, fifty, or one hundred feet, and even 
up to the level of the g-rottoes excavated in the brecciated 
materials of 'Sug-ar-loaf,' the level of 'Skull Cave,' and 
the 'Devil's Kitchen.' 

"While we state the fact, however, of the continuity 
of the action during- all this period, it is not intended to 
alleg"e that the water of the lakes, as such, has ever 
stood at the level of the summit of Sug-ar-loaf. Nor do 
we speak upon the question whether these chang-es have 
been caused by the subsidence of the lakes, or the uplift 
of the island and adjacent promontories. It is true that 
the facts presented bear upon these and other interesting- 
questions; but we must foreg-o any discussion of them.'^ 

Professor Winchell believed there had been some ele- 
vation of the island and surrounding- land, but more 
subsidence of the waters: "much of which was probably 
effected during- the prevalence of the continental g-lacial, 
and much during- the time of floods following-, and the 
action of the sea while the region was submerg-ed." 

The g-rand feature of the island formation is the 
"Arch Rock," in the bluff, on the eastern face. 

The following- parody on a popular song was found, in 
1865, written on a stone, placed on a water-worn shelf 
near the base of the arch, it was first published in 1870. 

"Beauteous Isle! I sing of thee, 

Mackinac, my Mackinac; 
Thy lake-bound shores I love to see, 
Mackinac, my Mackinac. 
From Arch Rock's height and shelving steep 
To western cliflFs and Ivover's Leap, 
Where memories of the lost one sleep, 
Mackinac, my Mackinac. 



234 Ilistoiy of Mackinac. 

Thy northern shore trod British foe, 

Mackinac, my Mackinac, 
That day saw gallant Holmes laid low, 
Mackinac, m3' Mackinac. 
Now Freedom's flag- above thee waves. 
And guards the rest of fallen braves, 
Their requiem sung by Huron's waves, 
Mackinac, my Mackinac.'" 




ARCH ROCK. 

Summit of arch rock above lake level 149 feet. Foster 
and Whitney mention the Arch and Sug-ar-Loaf Rocks, 
**as particular examples of denuding* action." 



Geology of Mackinac Island. 235 

"The portion supporting the arch on the north side, 
and the curve of the arch itself, are comparatively frag- 
ile, and can not for a long period resist the action of 
rains and frosts, which, in this latitude, and on a rock 
thus constituted, produce great ravages every season. 
The arch, which on one side now connects this abutment 
with the main cliff, will soon be destroyed, as well as the 
abutment itself, and the whole be precipitated into the 
lake/' 

GLEANED FROM "THE HIGHEST OLD SHORE LINE ON MACKINAC 
ISLAND," BY F. B. TAYLOR, 1892. 

"All the lower levels of Mackinac show plain evidence 
of past glacial action. The modern beach is composed 
almost entirely of limestone pebbles which are generally 
well rounded." The beach on which the village is built, 
from the water to an altitude of forty-five or fifty feet, 
is of the same material. 

"Post glacial submergence is more plainly marked 
from the 170 foot plain where there is a well developed 
beach ridge, and four others, up to 205 feet, about the 
base of Fort Holmes hill. Facing the N. E. cliff's of 
Fort Holmes ("island"), the beach lines are all wanting 
but the 170 foot ridge. The surface of the island is well 
sprinkled with bowlders, many erratics, of northern 
origin, their exposed surfaces strongly weathered. 
There are no bowlders with glacial scratches below the 
205 foot level. 

"Then the real 'Ancient Island,' three-quarters of a 
mile long and less than half as wide, its longer axis 
northwest and southeast, the highest point, covered by 
the British earthwork, is the Fort Holmes plateau. It 
is covered with drift, the bowlders and pebbles striated. 



236 History of Mackinac. 

The fort embankment, surrounded by a ditch five or six 
feet deep, is most entirely bowlder clay mixed with 
striated bowlders and pebbles. 

"All the main land, north and south, was submerged 
when the summit of the Island of Michilimackinac 
( 'Pequod-e-nong-e') was a dot in the waters." We leave 
the rest to the reader for deeper study, theories and con- 
jecture. 

"Ye call these red-browed brethren 

The insects of the hour, 
Crushed like the noteless worm amid 

The regions of their power; 
Ye drive them from their fathers' lands, 

Ye break the faith, the seal; 
But can ye from the court of Heaven 

Exclude their last appeal?" 



MACKINAC ISLAND STATE PARK. 

PUBLIC ACTS, MICHIGAN, REGULAR SESSION, 1895, PAGES 514, 

515. [NO. 222.] 

AN ACT to provide for the appointment of a board of commis- 
sioners who shall have the management and control of the 
Mackinac Island State Park, and defining its powers and 
duties. 

Section 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact: That, 
pursuant to an act of congress authorizing the Secretary of War, 
on the application of the Governor of the State of Michigan, to 
turn over to the State of Michigan- for use as a state park, and 
for no other purpose, the military reservation and buildings and 
the lands of the national park on Mackinac Island, Michigan. 
Provided, that whenever the State ceases to use the lands for the 
purposes aforesaid, it shall revert to the United States; the Gov- 
ernor be and he is hereby authorized and directed to make appli- 
cation to the Secretary of War, as aforesaid; and that upon the 
turning over to the State of Michigan of said military reserva- 
tion and the buildings and the lands of the national park on 
Mackinac Island, the same shall thereafter be known as the 
"Mackinac Island State Park." 

Sec. 2. Provides: Within thirty days, appointment by the 
Governor, with the Senate's consent, of a board of five commis- 
sioners, citizens of the State, to serve, respectively, two, four, 
six, eight and ten years; also, the Governor to be ex-officio, a 
member. Commissioners serve without compensation, but may 
receive actual expenses out of the park fund, for not exceeding 
one week in each year. Governor to fill vacancies. 

Sec. 3. Provides: Commission can lay out, control and man- 
age park, employ and pay a superintendent, but debts and obli- 
gations can not exceed the funds on hand. Commissioners can 
designate one or more employes to act as deputy sheriffs of 
Mackinac County, with sheriff's approval, without pay or com- 
pensation as such. Commissioners report to Governor annually 

(237) 



238 History of Mackinac. 

receipts and expenditures, and recommend and sug-gest as may 
seem proper. 

Sec. 4. Provides: Superintendent shall see " that tlie United 
Slates flag- is kept floating- from the flag staff of Fort Macki- 
nac " under rules governing- when the fort -was occupied " by 
the United States troops." Approved May 31st, 1895. 

MACKINAC ISLAND STATE PARK COMMISSION. 

Term expires. _ 
Hazen S. Pingree, Governor, ex-officio — 

f Peter White, President, Marquette, June 21, 1901 

f George T. Arnold, V-President, Mackinac Island.. June 21, 1903 

*George H. Barbour, Detroit June 21, 1905 

*Charles R. Miller, Sec'y and Treas., Adrian June 21, 1907 

*William A. Perren, Detroit..^. ..June 21, 1909 

The Commission held its first meeting in the Grand Hotel, 
Mackinac Island, July 11th, 1895, elected officers, and adopted 
rules for the park. Subsequently the Governor accepted the 
park for the State of Michigan from the Secretary of War. 

The detachment of U. S. troops vacated the fort Sept. 16th, 
1895, and embarked for Sault Ste. Marie, and 1st Lieutenant 
Woodbridge Geary, U. S. Army, commanding, (ex officio super- 
intendent,) turned the fort and Park over to George T. Arnold, 
Acting Superintendent of Mackinac Island State Park. 

1897. Michigan Legislature passed March 31st, Joint Resolu- 
tion 14, to provide for restoring Fort Mackinac to the United 
States, authorizing Mackinac Island State Park Commission to 
transfer the Fort and Military Reservation (103.41 acres) to the 
United States whenever the Secretary of War notifies the Com- 
mission it is desired for military occupation. 

In conclusion, the fort on the Straits of Michilimackinac has 
been in three locations: Fort Michilimackinac (St. Ignace) North 
Peninsula, 1673, Fort Michilimackinac (Old Mackinaw) South 
Peninsula, :j;l721-80. Fort Mackinac, Michilimackinac Island, 
1780. 

§ Michilimackinac was the official distinctive title of an exten- 
sive territory or province of New France and the name was not 
lOcal nor confined to the Island of " Michili-Mackinac," where 
it originated, as many suppose. 

^Appointed by John T. Rich. 
■^Appointed by Hazeti S. Pingree. 
JExact time of occupation not determined. 
§See pp. 2S-32, 34, 91. 208. 



240 



History of Mackinac. 



MACKINAC ISLAND HOTELS. 



Capacity 

The Grand 1,000 

Island House 300 

Astor House.. -.. 300 

Mission House 250 

New Mackinac 250 

New Murray 200 

The Rectory . 25 





Capacity 


Lake View 


100 


New Chicago 


, 90 


Bennett Hall 


150 


Brunswick 


75 


Palmer House 


50 


Lozon House 


50 



BOARDING HOUSES. 



Mrs. A. E. Davis. 

Cameron & Packard. 

Old Homestead. 

S. B. Pool. 

James Hoban. 

Mrs. Belle Gallagher. 

Stephen Dowd. 

Mrs. Thomas Gallagher. 

Thomas Chambers. 





SAINT IGNACE. 




Hutc-l Cadillac 


150 Russell House _ 


50 


jiuii.i.'nn 


40 The Algoinah 


40 



LES CHENEAUX. 

Name of Hotel. Proprietor or Manager. 

Bethel Home W. H. Law. 

Club House -- Geo. Davidson. 

Pennsylvania Hotel .. Samuel Meik. 

New Mulcalonge W. A. Patrick. 

Les Cheneaux Hotel Chas. Hessel. 

Elliot House A. H. & J. W. Beach. 

Islington Hotel.. Melchers & Co. 

The Lookout Hossack & Co. 

Lake Side Hotel John Coryell. 



Transportation. — Roads and Paths. 241 

STEAMER AND RAIL LINES TO MACKINAC ISLAND. 

Anchor Line. 

Arnold Line. 

Detroit & Cleveland Nav. Co. 

Lake Mich. & Lake Sup. Trans. Co. 

Northern Steamship Co. 

Northern Mich. Trans. Co. 

Hart Line Steamers. 

Great Northern Transit Co. 

North Shore Nav. Co. 

Island Trans. Co. 

Inland Route Steamers. 

Michigan Central Railroad. 

Grand Rapids & Indiana Ry. 

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Ry. 

Steamer Columbia. 

Also tramp or wild steamers and many private yachts. 

ROADS AND PATHS ON MACKINAC ISLAND. 

Steamers landing from twenty to fifty per day. 

"When you land at Mackinac Island, by lake steamers or by the 
steam ferries that connect with the M. C. G. R. & I., D., S. S. & 
A., and Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie R. Rs., face to 
the front, with the town and fort before you. The road through 
the center of the island leads from the fort to Fort Holmes, Skull 
Cave, Cemeteries, Dousman's Farm ('* Earley's "), Battle Field, 
British Landing, Boulevard and Scott's Cave. Roads to the 
right (eastward) to east end, Robertson's Folly, Giants' Stair- 
way, Fairy Arch, Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf Rock, Park ave- 
nue and Leslie avenue into the British Landing road. Roads to 
the left (westward) to Grand Hotel, Park avenue, "West End," 
Wacheo, ("Hubbard's Annex"), Lover's Leap. Chimne_y Rock, 
and Lover's Lane, and Cupid's Pathway, into the British Land- 
ing road. Consult Outline Map of Mackinac Island. You can- 
not get lost, if attentive to directions, but if you do it will only 
be a charming temporary novelty. 

In an address, "Mackinac Island and Its Associations," of the 
author, before the New York Genealogical and Biographical 
Society, New York City, Dec. 10th, 1897, is the following, in con- 
clusion: 



242 Histo?'y of Mackinac. 

" If when battle fields are being set off, as National Parks and 
Reservations, that help to perpetuate the memories of Civil 
strife, why not I'eg'arrison the old Fort, on the historic island, 
where battles were fought with a foreign foe! An island named 
by the savages, and whose settlement by the whites, is coinci- 
dent with the discovery of this continent; where the soldiers of 
three great nations have proudly marched over its sacred soil, 
and, on the shores of the straits, their flags have triumphantly 
waved." 

In the fall of 1896, a lake shore " Beach Boulevard " 1\%%% miles 
from Borough Lot to Mission Park was projected, and section 
from Grand Hotel to British landing, 15,100 feet, completed. 
About $5,000 will construct the north and east sides. This boule- 
vard, when finished, will be a driveway that can be nowhere 
excelled for novelty, variety and scenic effect — another charm to 
nature's Fairy Isle. 

We respectfully suggest, the east shore water front of the Park 
should be left, as it now is, adorned with nature's loveliness, and 
the Beach Boulevard terminate at the line intersecting the 
Earley farm and the Park, there to be connected with Leslie 
Avenue, up the hill, by that part of the old established roadway 
to Scott's Cave. 



INDEX. 

INDEX, PARTIAL, TO NAMES, SUBJECTS OF BOOK, ETC. 



page; 

A. D. 1492, Navigation 13 j 

A. D. 1899, Navigation 207 

A cadia 20,30; 

Alaska ...14, 16 

Albany 74, 75 

Aryan - 17 

Asia 13,17,28 

Apalachian mountains 30 

Bays — Bay of Biscay 19 

Bay de Noquet 25, 26 

Georgian 22,24,28, 65, 

82, 177, 186, 189 

Grand Traverse 143, 206 

Green (Bay des Puants. 
L,a Baye). .24-29, 37, 42, 44, 
55, 57, 62, 67, 70,101 181- 
186, 187 

GaspeBay 18 

Hudson.. -21,72. 93 

Little Tra vrese 206 

Matchadash 177, 186-9 

Saginaw 65, 87, 145 

Thunder 65, 89 

Beaver Islands 24, 45, 124-5, 

Bois Blanc Island. .65, 87, 168, 
179, 188, 213, 228 

British America 30 

Cadro, Madam (now Cadotte). 15, 
16, 201 

California . 16, 52 

Cape Breton 30 

Champlain, Samuel 20-27 

Cheboygan.. 102, 206, 208 

Chicago - -.32, 57 

China. 16, 52 

Chippeway language 31-2 

Columbus ... 17 

Conger, O. D. (U. S. Sen- 
ator). 227 

Cortez --18 

Cross Village.. 89, 98, 135-6, 142 

144 



PAGK 

Deed of Mackinac Island.. 160, 

162-4 

DeTour... 25 

Death of Pere Jacques Mar- 
quette 57-58 

Detroit.. 31, 64, 71, 83, 85, 104, 
106, 132-5, 145, 180, 185, 192 

Etharita .28 

Esquimaux 14 

Extracts — Doc. Hist, of N. 

Y... ..74, 83, 157 

Falls — Niagara 64 

St. Anthony's 67 

Sault Ste. Marie 25,179 

Ferry, Thomas W. (Senator) 

198, 227 

Fisheries, fish 41-3, 199, 200 

Flood (Deluge) 17 

Franciscan monks, Huge- 

nots, Jesuits 22, 23 

Florida 23,30 

Governor of Michigan. .228, 237, 

238 
Gebi-wau-beck (or bee), 

"Cliffside," St. Ignace.. 60-61 

Genesis of the Indian. 13-17 

Gulf of California ..,52 

Mexico.-. ..17 

St. Lawrence 18 

Henry, Alexander 90, 157 

Islands — Drummond's 190 

Round 180 

St. Joseph's.. 161, 170, 177, 
179, 182 

Illustrations — Arch Rock 234 

Fort Mackinac. 148, 158, 181, 

191, 211 

"Block" House of.. 166, 176 

, Cadro, Madam 201 

Fairy Arch of the Giant's 

Stairway 187, 204 

Indian.. 8, 13 

Marquette, statue of 58 



243 



244 



Index. 



Illustrations — page 

Mackinac Island.. 6, 11, 225, 
239 
Sentry box and parapet 

of Fort Mackinac 181 

Marquette at St. Ignace 
de Michilimackinac-- 38 

Skull Cave 139 

Sug-ar Loaf Rock, Mack- 
inac Island. ... 231 

Str. Sainte Marie 139 

The Griffon 63 

Indian languag^e 31 

Indian legend 33-5 

Iroquois massacre of the 

Hurons 21-29 

Indians — 

Algonquins 6, 9-24, 236, 

21-2, 24-6, 61, 82 

Ama kou ai 24 

Assineboines 16 

Choctaws 112 

Chickasaws 56, 112 

Chippeway.-15, 31-7, 86, 89, 
99, 103, 107, 157 

Delawares 85, 105 

Hurons. -.22-5, 28, 39-43, 46, 

50-4, 69, 80 

Huron woman in Asia.- 28 

Fox- ...26.73 

Illinois 27, 56 

Iroquois- -22, 28-9, 33-4, 36-7, 
73, 76, 78 
Kiskakon, Ottawa band, 

58, 61 

Mandan... 30 

Menomones 55, 48, 136 

Mohawks .- 27 

Nez Perces 24, 26, 47 

Ottawa. -31-7, 39, 45-6, 48, 

60, 68-9, 76-7, 89, 98, 101, 

102-4, 124-36 

Potawattomies-.45, 48, 60, 

136 

Sacs 26 

Senecas'. 74, 79, 80-2 

Sioux --16, 22, 25, 46, 56, 60, 
136 

Shawnees 56 

Six (5) Nations. 82 

Winnebagoes 26-7 

Isle aux Ontardes 146 

(Beaver Islands.) 
Isle du Castor-. -24, 72 123. 125, 

146 



PAGK 

Japan 16 

Japan current (Curo Shwio) 16 
Jews 16 

Joliet (JoUiet, Jollyet)-.49, 53-7, 

61 

Key of the lakes... 69, 70, 162, 

176, 185, 189 

Lakes — Champlain ...21, 30 

Des Allumettes 32 

Erie 64, 79, 87, 177, 186 

Great Slave 14, 15 

Huron- -21, 24, 26, 28, 30-1, 

34, 36, 42-8, 82, 99, 92, 168, 

177, 227 

Michigan -.24, 36, 42-4, 89, 

92-3, 98, 168, 227 

Nipissing-- 22, 24, 188 

Onondagua 22 

Ontario.-. 22,79 

Simcoe 186, 188 

St. Clair 87, 104 

Superior. -21, 29-39, 43, 47, 
49, 93, 98, 178, 227 

Les Cheneaux. ___25, 240 

Louisiana 30 

Mackinac Island — 

A summer resort 223-7 

"A perfect Gibraltar". - 

162, 185 

Acts of Congress for 

214, 219, 227-8 

City of... 201 

Churches 223 

Ferries 206-7, 241-2 

Hotels 240 

Geology 203, 227,229-38 

National park-. 214-15, 228, 
227-8 

Railroads to 206, 241 

Roads and paths 

215, 222, 230 241 
State park commission 

237-8 

State park 228, 237-8, 242 

Skull Cave. -138-48, 233. 241 

Steamer lines 206-8, 241 

Map of Mackinac Island, 

prefacing title page. 
Marquette and Joliet, voy- 
age of exploration 54-61 

Marquette's letter to Father 

Dablon - - - 41-3 

Marquette Monument Asso- 
ciation 55, 56 

McDonall, John Robert-164, 167 



Index. 



245 



PAGE 

McDouall, Robert-. 162, 169, 179, 
180, 189, 190 
McMillan, Jas. (Senator)... 228 
Memoir (ext.) of Pere Jacques 

Marquette (Bailey 's).^.. 55-59 
Michilimackinac — 

A fleet sails to 176-190 

Battle of island.171, 193, 209, 
214 

Island, deed of 

160, 162-4 

Cadillac at 70-71 

Charlevoix at 72-73 

County and borough of 

201-2, 205 

Courts .201 

Defenses, Straits of. .228-9 

Importance, stragetic, 

of.. 37, 40-3, 69-83, 88-90, 

157-62, 167-92, 211-12, 214- 

15, 228-9, 238, 242 

Island, fort moved to. 160-1 

Island occupied 37-9 

Island, U. S. troops re- 
occupy Ft. Mackinac 

167, 190-192 

La Hontan at 68-70 

La Salle at 65-68 

Legend of 202-215 

List of officers, French 
and British, etc., at__ 

164-7, 169 
List of U. S. officers, 

etc 168-9, 216-22 

Massacre 107-57 

Name, etc.. .30, 32-7, 83,208, 
238 

Surrender of 169-75 

The Griffon at 63-8 

First fort (St. Ignace), 
northern peninsula.. 

59-60, 70, 208-9 
Second fort (Old "Mack- 
inaw"), southern pen- 
insula ..107-57, 209 

Third fort (Mackinac), 
Michilimackinac Is- 
land ..158-99, 202-42 

Mexico 16, 30,75 

Minnesota 25, 30 

Mongolian. 17 

Montreal 18-22, 83, 114. 131-4 

New France. -18-24, 44, 50. 52, 83 



PAGE 

Newfoundland 19, 30 

New Mexico 30 

New York 74-82, 192, 195 

Nova Scotia ...30 

Oceans — Atlantic 16-21 

Arctic ...14-15 

Pacific 16, 17, 30, 79, 201 

Origin of the Aborigines.. 13-17 

Pontiac's conspiracy 84-157 

Priests and other clergy — 

Allouez..-29, 37, 62, 44-5, 50 

Andre 44, 50 

Anastase 68 

Angeblan 77 

Baraga -. 32 

Breboeuf .23, 28 

Charlevoix 72-3 

Dablon-37, 44-5, 50, 60, 62, 80 

Daniel 28 

Druilletes 44-5 

Knjalron 61, 165 

Garnier 28 

Grelon 28 

Hennepin 64-8, 164 

Janois 132, 135 

Jogues.. 27 

Lalemant 28 

Le Caron 22 

Marest 71 

Marquette.. 32, 44, 46,49-52, 
208 

Menard. ...36, 37 

Miller.. 223 

Nouvel.. 61, 62 

Piret, A. D 200 

Pierson 61, 62 

Richelieu .. 25 

Ryambault 27 

Vierwest 37, 44 

Clergy— Bacon, David 168 

Ferry, Wm. M 197 

O'Brien, John 218 

Knox, James 220 

Provinces of New France. .30-1 

Detroit ...31, 83 

Hudson Bay 30 

Michilimackinac. 30-36. 64, 
83 

Quebec 30, 83 

Province of New York — 

Boundaries 82 

Quebec... 19, 24, 83, 60 



246 



Index. 



PAGE 

Michigan, Governor of.. .228, 
237-8 

Rivers — Arkansas 57 

Alt Sables... 143 

Cayug-a Creek 64 

Cheboygan... 102, 206 

Chicago.. 32. 57 

Churchill 15, 93 

Des Moines 56 

Detroit ._ 64 

Fox... 26, 56 

French 22, 24, 187 

Illinois... .44, 57, 101 

Mackenzie. 14 

Marquette 57 

Mattawan 22 

Mississippi.. 24-5, 27-30, 44, 
53. 56, 67, 68, 93, 99, 101 

Missouri 56 

Nautauwasaga .._ 186 

Ohio 30, 56 

Ottawa. „ ..22, 90 

Pine 160 

Red River of the North. 15 

Richelieu (Sorel) .21, 28 

Saguenay 20 

Saskatchawan 29 

St. Fran<-is 45 

St. Joseph's ...101,131 

St. Lawrence.. 18-21. 85-6, 
154, 193 

St. Mary's (Soo) .25, 27 

Trent 22 

Three Rivers .24, 27, 44 

Wabash 85 

Wisconsin 56 

Yukon 14 



PAGE 

St. Ignace and St. Iguace 

de Michilimackiiiac 25-29, 

37-44, 49, 50-52, 53-4, 59-63. 

66-73. 89, 161, 168, 206, 240 

Father Marquette at... 37 

Sault Ste. Marie.. 25, 27. 36-7, 

40, 43-50, 52, 88, 102-3, 109-10. 

146, 148-56, 178-9, 182, 188, 202. 

206 

Schoolcraft, Henry R 199. 

229-33 

Seul Choix 25 

Spanish possessions 30 

St. Malo (France) 18-19 

St. Paul 227 

Straits — Behring 14-17 

Detroit 64 

of Michili-Mackinac-_25. 27. 
54. 59, 66, 72, 79, 87, 205 

defenses of 228-9 

greatest waterway 

in the world 228 

St. Clair 65 

St. Ignatius, on the Sorel.. 28 

The American Fur Co 192-99 

The process verbal 47-50 

Toronto ("York") 79, 188 

Vice royalty of Mexico 30 

War— Pontiac's 84-157 

Revolutionary.. .158-61. 214 

of "1812-15" 169-92. 214 

of "1861-5" — 222 

Wagoshence ("Waugosh- 

ance") 124-25 

Washington Territory 17 

Williams, Thomas... 7, 219 



OUR CURIOSITY SHOP j 

Water Street 1 

1 

A 



V 


11*** 






s 
^ 


HAS A GREAT VARIETY OF 




Che Tinest... 




Xaxm Indian Ulork 


t 


ON THIS CONTINENT 


t 


A SELECT ASSORTMENT OF 

Imported China and <.?* 


\^^^ 


^*** 
^**>(^ 


Pottery, Diamonds and 
other Precious Stones, 


► 


s 


Heathen Gods and Im- 


ages, Fancy Jewelry and 
Souvenirs of Gold, Sil- 




ver, etc., etc. ,^ S <^ <^ 




IN PROFUSION, TO SUIT 


i. 


THE MOST FASTIDIOUS 


s 

k 
s 
s 




1*** 


1 



HILL'S 
BAZAAR, 



Agent for Col. Bailey's 
"Great Book," MACK- 
INAC, formerly Mich- 
ilimackinac. 



MACKINAC ISLAND 
....MICHIGAN 



■\i ^^fLtd. ^ A^ ,^^^td.,d.^^i^^.J.^i^ ^iA. J , J i a i J,J tlf '''''^ ^'^' ^ 4/ k J t J i tJ i 4 d! '^'>--'^^-^-^-^^ 



' ■ l |^^||^Vl|^ll^^u^^||^^|yM^^||^^||^^|||^|||^|■^^||^^||^^^^^ll^^ll^^ll^^ll.^f^l ^ ^ ll^ ^^ ^ | l V ■^ ^ ||| ^" ^ ^ ||f^' lVl'^ l■^ ^ '' '^" ' ^ | ' ' ^' ^ 

r Old ^ -^ i 



FRANKS BROS. 
PROPS. . . 



The Missionary Pioneer 
House of the ^ ^ 
''Fairy Isle'' S S 



MISSION HOUSE 



"EAST END" 



MACKINAC 
ISLAND 



MICHIGAN 




Comfortable i 

and -^ S \ 

Reliable S % 

1 



^^tA^^^jAtjJj^jd^^^^^^J^^^^l^A^^A^^J^^J^I^J^^jJl^^^^^^^^^^l^^ 



Mackinac 

,,,,JSLAND 



JJackmen's 
Association 



MEMBERS 



NO. OF NO. OF 
VEHICLES SEATS 

Bailey, E. S... 3 12 

Bailey, A. W 1 4 

Chambers, J. A 1 4 

Chambers, George 1 4 

Chambers, Gun 2 10 

Chambers, W. K 2 8 

Chambers, Thomas 1 6 

Chambers, F. T 1 4 

Chambers, W. D 1 4 

Chapman, R 1 4 

Corrigan, A. R 2 8 

Crosby & Lozon 2 10 

Cushway, A. G 4 16 

Donnelly, W 1 6 

Furguson, Ed 1 4 

Franks, S. R 2 8 

Franks, Mrs. E. A 1 6 

Hammond, Theo 1 4 

Hoban, James 3 12 

Hoban, John 2 10 

Hoban, Arnold 1 6 

Jollie, L. J 1 4 

Leggette, Joe 1 4 

Lachance, B 11 55 

Lambert, Joe.. 1 4 

Lasley, James 1 4 

Louisignaw, Charles 1 4 

Marshall, W 1 4 

McCarty, James 1 6 

McCarty, John 3 12 

Mclntyre, D 1 6 

Mclntyre, James 2 10 

Newton Bros 3 14 

Pound, W - 1 4 

Rounds, Frank .. 2 10 

Rounds, Ray 1 4 

Shomin, N 2 8 

Wilmette, Joe 1 6 

4^" t^* V^ 

Rates Adopted by the Village Council. 



OOOCHOOOOOOOOOOO 



BAILEY & SON'S 



mnAs, 



Mackinac Island, Mich. 

Is acknowiedg^ed to be 
the finest and most reli- 
able place on Mackinac 
Island to buy Drug's, Med- 
icines, Prescriptions, etc., 
and is the most popular 
place where the wear.v 
pedestrian can for a few 
pence revel in the de- 
lig'hts of an Ice Cream 
Soda or quench the thirst 
with the finest carbonated 
beverag-es that can be pro- 
duced. 

We g'ive this branch of 
our business special atten- 
tion , and we shall endeav- 
or to furnish our cus- 
tomers with the best of 
everytliingr. A single 
trial will be sufficient to 
satisfy the most fastidi- 
ous. 



ooooooooooooooo 



'x^T^^T^^^^'^^ 



r'^'^^^^'^T^'^^P^^TT] 



Finest Line Chocolates 
Best Line Cigars t^ <>* ^ 
Purest Line Perfumery ^ 

.in the City 



Dr. 
3. R. Bailey ^ Son 



Come and see us. 



MACKINAC : 
ISLAND : 




*^"T 



T T "^ '\"^' *\' 'T 'V 'v '\ 'T '\' 



ii^i«^iii^ii^iii^iii^iii^ii^i«^iii^iii^ii^m^J^in^iii|^iii^iii^iii^i^ 



EDWARD J, McADAM 



A 



TWO STORES ON WATER STREET AND 
STAND IN THE GRAND HOTEL 



...INDIAN CURIOSITIES... 

And an assortment of Fancy and other 
Goods too numerous to mention. 

Agent for Dr. John R. 
p' Bailey's "Great Book."' 

MACKINAC, formerly 
f Michilimackinac ; O 't 

•sells, as our g'oods g^o, 

"like hot cakes.'' 



...Fruits and Nuts in Season... 

MACKINAC ISLAND, 

MICHIGAN -— — ^ 

;^,v...'>.,..'v,..wv.'>...-t.v...v...'>....v...^..w\...i..v...vvv..'>...v...i.v...v...v..\...w.v.. 



loooooo oooooo 



Moss Agates «^ 
Fancy Jewelry 
and Souvenirs 



Books J- J" J- 
Magazines ^ 
Papers and J- 
Fine Stationery 



oooooo OOOCM>0 



M l. umiiimimii. ■■■■...■■.. •■TIP ^ 



DR. 


JOHN 

L»TE POS 


R. 

T SI, 


BAILEY, 

RGEON, FOR 


< c c 

ESTABLISHED 


M. G. 

18S4 


BAILEY, 

YEARS IN Th 


Manager 


NESS. 



National Park Drug Store 

Oldest Drug House In the Northwest 



JOHN R. BAILEY 
cS- SON — -^ 



Mackinac Island 
Michigan 

. . . Headquarters tor . . . 

'MlNflCFOmiyiatCHILIMCKINIiG," 

By John R. Bailey, JM. D. , Etc. 
Sold by Agents Qene racily 

Physicians' Prescriptions 
a Specialty 

Graduates in Pharmacy 
in Charge 



^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^P* ^^^ 



Drugs, Medicines, 

Wines and Liquors, 

Fine Perfumes, 

rollet Articles. 

Fancy Goods. 

Druggists' Sundries 

Fancy Groceries, 

Glassware, 

Hardware, 

Gen' I Merchandise. 

'^ 

Sporting Goods, 

Fishing Tackle, 
Confectionery, 

Cigars, Tobacco, 
Paints, Oils, Wail 
Paper, Stationery, 

Optical Goods. 



4k«A4k4^ 



f/-r^ /^f^am ^rk/ia Ginger Ale, Sherbet and Min- 

ice ^rea m ^>oaa ^^g, yy^^^^^ „„ Draught. 



wiiiiiiiiiiiii i 'i i ii n iiiiii i iiii ii i i iiiiiiiiiiiiiii m ii im iiiiii im iiiiiiiiiii i i 



C8C85C«CR5000CRMftCK8XeC8>C8»5Ca85«8»Xe5S^^ 



♦ ♦♦ 



^he grand Botcl.^, 



» 



Accommodations for 
700 Guests 



Strictly First-class jt^jt 



MACKINAC ISLAND, 
MICH, jt ^ Jk 




FAMOUS 

§ THIS 

8 ^ RESORT 



HOTEL , , . 



^ Opens for the Season 

§July If and continues 
until late in September 



rOB RATES ADDRESS Ot 

J. R. HAYES g 

WAYNE HOTEL O 

Detroit, Mich. O 

ITTTTfTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTrrrrmni 

THE WAYNE ^^ 
Detroit 

UNDER SAME MANAGEMENT 

Rates, $2.00 to $3,50 Per Day 



)^iSC85C8SOCe»>OOOOOC8>OOCH>0000»<>OOOOOOOOOOC8»>Ca83< 



KiiiiiiiiT i iiiiiii im iii m iiiii i iiiiiiiiii i i n ii i iiiiiiiii ii ii iiii n i n »iai 

Robt. Smith Printing €o. 

LANSING, - MICHIGAN 



Primm and Binders 



LAW AND MEDICAL BOOK 

PUBLISHERS 

WE MAKE A SPECIALTY OF 

CATALOGUES, PAMPHLETS, AND ALL 

CLASSES OF EDITION WORK 

STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS 



...PUBLISHERS... 

Cbc State Republican 

DAILY AND SEMI- WEEKLY 



•"•• .■ ■ .■■■■■■■.■■■ ..^ 



Real Estate! 

I 
t 

:::::: TOR SALE :::::: 



A L1A\1TED NUAXBER OT 
CHOICE CITY LOTS AND 
IMPROVED PROPERTY IN 
ST. IGNACE, AND VALU- 
ABLE EAR^n LANDS IN 
A\ACKINAC, CHIPPEWA ^^p 
CHEBOYGAN : : : COUNTIES 



MICHIGAN 



clfiHN R. BAILEY 

MACKINAC ISLAND 
/niCLllGAN 



SEP 16 1899 



